Cracked Landing
by SharpieSam
Summary: After Peridot crash landed on Earth, she found herself stranded and scared with a cracked gem. Will she survive on Earth alone or will she find someone to help her learn about this new planet?
1. Prologue

_A/N: Forgive me for the short Prologue; however, I think it's necessary to keep this separate from Chapter 1. I promise the rest of the chapters will be longer!_

_Anyway, here is my take on what happened to Peridot after her crash landing. I will warn you that there will be fluff and Peridot x Ronaldo pairing! But before you close out of this story, please give it a chance! You'll be surprised how well these two nerds are together! I know I was surprised!_

* * *

"…T-this is…Peridot…logging in day three of crash landing on Earth. I do not remember how long I have been knocked out since my pod crashed in an odd field. My sensors have been damaged and unable to measure what happened before I awoke. Luckily, I have not encountered any C-Crystal gems. My body temperature is dangerously low; however as long as my gem is unharmed, I should be fine…" Peridot breathed in a harsh breath and weakly leaned against a tree. Her body felt heavy and she inspected the various cuts on her body.

She was damaged. She thought about retreating into her gem for some much needed regeneration, but the thought of leaving her gem exposed to the harsh elements of this unknown planet frightened her. She was a defenseless technician gem. There was no way she could stand up against any gem. She trudged forward with little awareness of her surroundings when she felt her body lurch forward as she accidentally walked off the short cliff. She felt her entire body painfully roll down the rocky path before finally landing face-first into the dirt. Her vision swirled and her head felt like static.

"My ge-g-gem." Peridot glitched. Her eyelids grew heavy and she weakly rolled onto her back trying to inspect the damage done to her body. Peridot tried to command her floating appendages to inspect her gem but found that they were limp by her side. "Oh p-p-ple-please n-n-o." she gasped and looked up into the stars, helplessly gazing longingly at Homeworld before everything went black.

* * *

_Leave a review, please!_


	2. Chapter 1

_A.N: Chapter 1 here!_

* * *

The crunching of leaves echoed through the empty woods as a figure trekked through, only using the light from his cell phone to light his path.

"Man, who are they to be telling me that the space hand debris is dangerous. I know enough about Beach City's paranormal activity to know what I'm doing! I should be down there blogging about that ship!" Ronaldo muttered and stomped through the woods. He searched the ground in hopes of finding any leftover debris that could have possibly landed near the woods. He wouldn't admit it, but he really just wanted material for his blog. He could see the debris well enough to know it was part of the sneple (snake-people) plans but he needed proof for his blog. A snap of a branch caught the man off guard and he jumped, nearly dropping his phone.

"…Oh p-p-ple-please n-n-o…" he heard a feminine voice whimper, or rather, it sounded like a broken computer. The voice was so mechanized and electronic sounding it was as if someone had dropped _their_ phone. He slowly followed the sound of the buzzing and whirring down the cliff face and came to a stop when the sounds died down.

"Hm…" Ronaldo carefully looked at the branches when he noticed the leaves were not all the same color or the same shape. In fact, there were some bright green cylindrical shapes tied within the branches. He freed the two odd shapes from the sharp branches and inspected them. What were they? He took out his phone once more to take a photo for his blog when suddenly the two shapes twitched. "Ah!" Ronaldo yelped in shock and dropped the two shapes and watched them roll away by themselves in confusion. "W-wait!" He rushed after the shapes and followed them through the rocky path. He found himself heaving as the shapes made sharp turns and curves around branches. The shapes disappeared under thick branches and Ronaldo quickly shoved the wooden appendages out of the way only to stand shocked at where the odd green shapes stopped at. He looked down at the green figure lying in the dirt not knowing how to react.

After about five minutes of mesmerized staring he roughly cleared his throat.

"He-Hello?" He cautiously greeted. "Are you a snake person?" He guessed and kneeled down examining the body further when he realized the body was covered in scratches and bruises. "Oh my gosh are you okay?" Ronaldo said with worry lacing his voice. He placed a hand on her shoulder in attempt to shake her awake but he quickly recoiled when he noticed how stone cold she was. He further examined her body and noticed all the inhuman features she possessed. She did not appear to have any hands and her skin was a sickly pale green. Her visor was cracked and chipped along with the green gem that was on her forehead. Whoever this was, she was obviously not human. He quickly fished out his cell phone shakily and attempted to take a picture of the creature when he noticed her facial features. Her eyes and lips were twisted in pain and her breathing looked labored and painful through the camera lens. Ronaldo huffed in frustration and shoved the electronic device back into his shirt pocket and carefully lifted figure. He realized how lightweight she felt and he felt his heart sink with worry.

"A dead alien will be useless to me. I guess I'll bring you to my headquarters to keep you under observation." Ronaldo reasoned speaking to himself. He looked down at the ground and noticed that the cylindrical shapes were left unmoving on the floor and groaned with annoyance before he reached down and picked them up, putting them in his pockets. "I guess these are part of her too. I mean, they were going back to her…somehow. I should probably take them with me." Ronaldo stated and began to walk up the cliff towards the lighthouse.

* * *

_A/N: Please leave a review if you would like more chapters!_


	3. Chapter 2

_A/N: Wow! I'm shocked at all the positive reviews! Thank you! Here is chapter 2! _

* * *

A static buzz interrupted Peridot's resting state as she blinked her eyes open with a pained groan. Everything around her blurred and glitched before finally focusing.

"Ow. Ugh." Peridot groaned and held her head. Her eyes widened when she felt, or rather didn't feel, the floating appendages on her hand. "M-my fi-fingers!" her voice glitched and she looked around frantically. She had not even taken note of the fact that she was no longer on the forest floor and her panic rose. "Where a-am I?" she got up on her feet and examined her surroundings. She looked at the unfamiliar décor in the room. It seemed to be more of an office rather than a room due to the numerous littered notes all over the floor. She tried to summon up her screen to record her surroundings and try to contact Homeworld but only screamed in frustration. "Wh-ere are m-my fingers!" Peridot screetched angrily. "Why do these Earth beings keep taking my things!"

"3:28 PM. It seems the alien being has awoken from her slumber. She seems distressed and looking for her 'fingers' as she claims. There seems to-" Peridot turned to the source of the voice which seemed to be from under a pile of blankets.

"Wh-who's t-t-there?" She stuttered, her voice still broken.

"Ah! I do apologize. You must not have noticed me due to my awesome stealth." The voice continued. A figure emerged from under the covers to reveal a tall and rather large human. Peridot looked in confusion and with caution.

"You! You're a human! What d-do you w-w-want! Why have you c-c-captured m-me?" Peridot interrogated.

"Woah, woah! What's with these accusations? First of all, I did not 'capture' you. I simply took you to my headquarters after I saw you lying in the forest." He stated.

"That's essentially t-the same t-thing, you fool." Peridot grumbled. "You s-s-stole my f-fingers didn't you! You're keeping them hostage as well!" Peridot immediately accused. He seemed taken aback.

"Fingers? What are you talking about? The only thing I recovered were these strange green cylindrical shapes." He dug into his pockets and took out a handful of Peridot's fingers. Peridot gasped.

"G-give those b-back!" She yelled stomping over to him. She didn't care if he was dangerous or if he had a weapon. She needed to contact Homeworld and she couldn't do anything without her fingers, as pathetic as that sounded. "Those are m-my fingers y-y-you idiot!"

'What? Fingers? What are you talking abou-Ah!" he let out a shocked yelp as the cylinders jumped out of his hands and back to Peridot. They lined up back in their floating position. Peridot gave a relieved sigh as she flexed her newly returned fingers. She turned to scowl at the human again when she saw his back was turned and he was muttering into some device again.

"It seems the being has some odd kind of floating detachable fingers. One can only imagine if the rest of the body is detachable. Perhaps it is for easy storage and handling of the being…." He continued onward. Peridot rolled her eyes and remembered the reason for her needing the fingers back. She quickly formed her screen in front of her and tapped a few icons on it hoping to get a signal and to record her log entries.

"This is Peridot logging in d-day 4 of crash landing on Earth. It s-s-seems I have been t-taken to a human base. The h-human does not show a-any threat to me b-b-besides the fact that he has h-held my fingers hostage for s-s-some time. Will need to p-perform a body scan to ensure n-nothing else has happened since-"

"The alien seems to refer to itself as 'Peridot' and is trying to contact the mothership. This may be in accordance to my diamond authority theory or my-"

"How did you k-know that?" Peridot hissed. The man jumped nearly dropping his electronic device and looked over at the green alien with confusion.

"Um. Know what?" he said dumbly. Peridot's free fingers twisted into a fist.

"About Yellow D-Diamond! And my n-n-name! Who a-are you?" Peridot questioned getting closer to him. He seemed to shrink back at her sudden outburst.

"You said your name earlier." He said slightly shaken under her death stare. "And I have no idea who you're talking about. Who's Yellow Diamond?" he asked. Peridot cursed under her breath.

"I may have revealed too much." Peridot turned back to him and stood up straight with poise. "Well since you know who I am it is time you introduce yourself."

"Uh. Oh yeah. I'm Ronaldo, owner of the blog Keep Beach City Weird!" he proclaimed with pride. Again, Peridot raised her eyebrows with confusion and turned back to her screen.

"It appears t-that I have been h-held in the lair of the 'Ronaldo.'" She logged into her system. Her monitor buzzed and static raked through the screen and Peridot stomped her foot down in annoyance. "What is going on w-w-with my t-tech? Ugh, I ought t-to – " She stopped midway through her sentence when she caught sight of her reflection in the digital monitor. Peridot almost fell back in shock. "N-no! I-i-it can't be!" Peridot closed her screen and returned her fingers to their place and ran over to the nearest window, looking at her reflection again. "N-no! My gem! It can't be c-c-cracked! It can't! There's no way I –" A flash and a click interrupted Peridot's meltdown and she looked back over to the human who was staring down at the small device in his hands.

"The…alien named…Peridot…seems….to show great concern…over the green…gem…on her…head…" Ronaldo said slowly as he typed on his device.

"What are y-you d-doing?" Peridot questioned looking at him wearily.

"Updating my blog with a picture of you. People need to keep informed about all the weird stuff that goes on in Beach City and – "

"Blog? What i-is a blog?" Peridot asked with slight curiosity.

"Ah, you probably don't have blogs on your planet." Ronaldo said randomly. "Blogs are a place for people to post things for everyone to see. In other words- " Realization dawned on Peridot's face.

"Everyone saw that picture of me?" Peridot exclaimed wrestled the man for his device.

"H-hey! What are you doing?" Ronaldo said tussling with the green gem.

"You dense rock! You posted a picture of me for everyone on your planet to see? Do y-you not realize I h-h-have enemies o-on this planet? Do you n-not realize that I was in the woods because I was h-h-hiding?" She screamed. She tried again to grab the phone from his hands. "Erase that photo!" Peridot said with panic. If the Crystal Gems were to see that image, she would surely be dead. The minor crack in her gem wouldn't matter if she was getting pounded to a pulp.

"Hey! Watch the face!" Ronaldo bickered and tried to move her off of him.

"Give me that device or I'll-" a knock echoed from the bottom of the lighthouse.

'No,' Peridot shook with fear. 'Not the Crystal Gems! Not now!'

* * *

_A/N: Looks like our nerds are in trouble! Leave a review for more chapters!_


	4. Chapter 3

_A/N: Wow! I'm so surprised by all the positive feedback! Thank you all so much! _

_Here's chapter 3!_

* * *

The knock echoed through the lighthouse and Peridot quickly stumbled to her feet.

"Huh, I wonder who that is." Ronaldo thought out loud. Peridot let out an annoyed hiss.

"I've been d-discovered." She muttered under her breath. She turned to Ronaldo. "You! Human!" Peridot pointed one of her detachable fingers at him. "Go and a-answer the door w-wh-while I hide! Get r-r-rid of those who are searching for m-me!" Peridot commanded. Ronaldo didn't budge.

"Hold on here. Why should I listen to you? You're on my planet in _my _paranormal research facility!" Ronaldo defended. Peridot scoffed.

"'Research facility?' Please! I've seen airships with better accommodations! If this is what you humans call a research facility then gems should not be worried about Earth at all! If you ask me, this place is a huge-" another knock echoed through the lighthouse and Peridot almost lost her balance, her tall confident stance slacking. The knock sounded more frantic and angry.

"You know what? I think I'll let whoever's at the door in to help me continue my research." Ronaldo turned towards the stairs of the lighthouse. Peridot's eyes widened and she started after him.

"W-w-wait!" She saw her vision glitch and tripped over her own feet flat on her face. A painful crack echoed through her forehead. Peridot's face paled when she realized that was her gem and she felt tears prickle the corner of her eyes. With her gem in this condition, there was no way she could fight the human let alone another gem. She was not a warrior gem like Jasper. Her fighting capabilities were low as is, but with her gem cracked beyond repair, there was no way she could even escape without destroying herself.

"I'll do anything!" Peridot burst out saying. "I'll do anything! Just get rid of whoever's at the door! I need to stay hidden!" Peridot heard herself beg. She hated being so pathetic. As a technician gem, she was considered lower class than warrior gems. She had no royal background and no friends. Technician gems were made to serve warrior gems and those of higher class, nothing more. She had to face reality: no gem was going to look for her.

The door slammed shut as Ronaldo made his way downstairs.

"I'm d-d-dead." Peridot stuttered. She heard the door downstairs open.

"Ronaldo! It took you long enough!" A familiar voice said.

"Steven? What are you doing here?" Ronaldo asked. 'A Steven? How did it find me so quickly?' Peridot thought silently.

"What do you mean? We're watching horror movies tonight, remember? Horror club? Lars and Sadie are coming later. They're still cleaning up at the Big Donut." Steven explained.

"Um, you know what Steven? I actually have some emergency paranormal research I'm doing right now. How about we reschedule the Horror Club meeting for next week?" Ronaldo explained.

"Aww." Steven whined.

"How about you tell Sadie and Lars too? You know, in case they show up here too." Ronaldo explained. "I promise I'll have an extra scary movie next week!"

"Even scarier than Evil Bear?" Steven asked.

"One hundred times scarier!" Ronaldo beamed.

"Oh, okay! I'll go tell Lars and Sadie then." A few footsteps sounded. "Bye Ronaldo!" The door shut and she heard footsteps going up the stairs. The door opened once more to reveal only Ronaldo.

"Um…Why are you on the floor." Ronaldo asked. Peridot didn't notice that she was still cowering on the floor. Peridot quickly stumbled to her feet.

"N-n-n-no reas-son." Peridot stammered.

"Well in accordance to our deal, you need to answer my questions." Ronaldo said.

"W-what! I never agreed to th-th-that!" Peridot yelped.

"Actually, you said 'I'll do anything' and telling me your world's secrets is part of 'anything.'" Ronaldo explained. Peridot cursed under her breath.

"I can't do t-that!" Peridot screamed. "Y-you humans do-don't know w-what you're dealing w-w-with!"

"Which is why I want answers." Ronaldo said smoothly. Peridot screamed with irritation.

"You-" She pointed her fingers at him about to say something when the floating appendages dropped on the floor lifeless. Her eyes widened.

"Does that happen often?" Ronaldo asked with a notepad in hand.

"N-no! I-It's just because m-m-my gem is cracked!" She said. Ronaldo jotted down the answer. Peridot noticed this and slapped her fingerless hand over her mouth.

"And why is this gem of yours so important?" Ronaldo asked continuing with his questions.

"Listen here. Human!" Peridot slammed her foot on the ground with anger and a loud pop followed. She felt her body fall forward as she noticed her leg had popped off. Out of reflex, Ronaldo quickly caught her before she could land on the ground face first again.

"I was right! The rest of your body _is_ detachable!" Ronaldo said with a grin. Peridot blushed when she noticed the position she was in and squirmed in his grasp.

"Let go of me!" Peridot flailed her arms and another pop echoed through the room. Her arm fell down with a_ thunk_. "Great! Just great! I'm literally f-f-falling a-apart!" Peridot groaned.

"Do you need help?" Ronaldo asked.

"N-n-no!" Peridot responded. At this point she could hardly fight back with just one arm and one leg. "For the l-l-last time! L-l-let go of m-me!" Peridot hissed.

"I don't think you need anymore damage on yourself! How about you stay still and just let me help you to a chair or something?" Ronaldo asked politely.

"N-n-never!" Peridot growled not wanting any help from a human being.

"Hey! Listen here! I'm trying to help! How about you let me and stop-Ow!" Ronaldo yelped as something harshly poked his back. He turned around and saw Peridot's fingers project towards him. "Ah!" He quickly turned to the side with Peridot in his arms trying to avoid impact of the flying appendages. "Hey! Call off your fingers!" Ronaldo yelped as more came after him.

"I'm not c-c-controlling them!" Peridot yelped as her foot came hurtling towards them.

"Then how do you explain _this_?" Ronaldo said trying to shield her from the barrage of her own appendages.

"I told you! M-my gem is cr-cracked! I don't have a-a-any control over m-my physical form!" Peridot yelped as her arm came after them.

"Then how do we fix this?" Ronaldo asked frantically. Peridot thought and went through every scenario and option she had and gulped when she realized there were none.

"I don't k-know!" Peridot said squeezing her eyes shut. She wanted to cry. Everything was falling apart around her, physically and mentally. What was going to happen to her now?

"Hey! Ow!" Ronaldo felt a finger poke the back of his head and a harsh kick to his back and he fell forward right on top of Peridot. Peridot grumbled in pain at the sudden impact and opened her eyes wide in shock to see Ronaldo right on top of her.

Time seemed to stop for the two.

"Hey Ronaldo! I told Lars and Sadie, but I wanted to see if you needed any paranormal help! Also, the gems aren't home and I was bored!" the door to the top room of the lighthouse flew open to reveal a familiar short figure. "By the way, why do you never answer the-" Steven stopped walking in and stood at the door with a dumbfounded face, "-door…"

* * *

_A/N: Oops! Looks like Peridot couldn't stay hidden forever! She sure has a habit of falling on her face, doesn't she? _

_Stay tuned for Chapter 4! _


	5. Chapter 4

_A/N: Thanks for all the great reviews and continued support! _

* * *

A seemingly endless moment of silence followed.

"Steven! Uh-I-what are you-I mean-" Ronaldo stammered trying to find the right words, "This isn't what it looks like!" He blushed at this position he was in. However, that was one of Peridot's least concerns.

"A g-g-gem?" Peridot panicked and used her remaining arm to push off Ronaldo. She heaved herself with her single arm and tried to hobble away.

"Wait! Peridot, what are you-?" Ronaldo tried to speak. Forgetting she was missing a leg, Peridot tripped and fell flat on her face again with a loud crack.

"Ow…" Peridot groaned unmoving.

"Peridot!" Ronaldo rushed over and helped the fallen gem up to a sitting position. Her remaining arm and leg fell off onto the ground and she grumbled painfully.

"Ow…" Peridot blinked her eyes open and Ronaldo paled when he saw her eyes were nothing but static.

"Peridot? Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" Steven said rushing over to the green gem. Peridot panicked when she heard the voice.

"Get a-a-away from m-m-me!" She backed up onto the wall she was leaning on. "D-d-don't h-hurt m-me!" She whimpered. Looking pathetic didn't matter anymore. She just wanted to survive at this point, but she was at the mercy of a gem now.

"Let me help you, Peridot." Steven said with a gentle tone.

"N-never! G-g-get away f-fr-from me!" Peridot shook in her place with fear and shut her eyes again. Ignoring her command, Steven licked his hand until a thick coat of his spit covered it. Ronaldo looked at the younger boy with confusion and slight disgust.

"Um, I'll explain later." Steven said and knelt in front of the taller gem who was cowering before the smaller boy. "Sorry, this might be a little weird."

'What? Who says that before they murder someone? What is he planning to do to me?' Peridot gulped and squeezed her eyes tight.

_Smack_

Peridot shivered when she suddenly felt something cold touch her gem. 'What is he doing? Freezing me to death? Using some odd Earth magic?' Peridot's thoughts raced through her dizzy head. The feeling slowly subsided and was replaced with a warm glow. Peridot suddenly felt the static in her head disappear and a familiar click of her joints as her limbs fell back into its place. Slowly and hesitantly, she opened green eyes and looked around noticing that everything was clear and defined under her working visor. She quickly brought her hand up and saw her fingers resting in the correct spot.

"What the-" Peridot began but couldn't find the words. She pulled up a screen using her fingers and checked to see all the features working perfectly as if nothing happened. Her gem shone in the reflection of the screen and Peridot's eyes widened. There was no crack. Her gem was spotless without a single scratch. "What did you do to my gem?" Peridot asked with clear words.

"I-um-fixed it?" Steven said as if it was a question to her. Peridot looked at him with a dumbfounded expression.

"But… _how?_" Peridot asked looking at her reflection again. Fixing cracked gems was often difficult and a delicate procedure that required years, or even _decades_, of training, yet this little boy was able to fix her gem in just a few seconds?

"Oh. I have healing spit!" Steven said as if it was no big deal.

"Healing…spit? But that's not possible!" Peridot typed on her virtual screen. She searched through her databases for answers. "Healing powers are reserved for the highest class of gems. Surely the Crystal Gems would not be given this ability." Peridot pondered aloud.

"Oh, the other gems don't have it. It's just me." Steven beamed.

"That only baffles me more." Peridot mumbled.

"Well, the gems said my mom had healing tears, so I probably got it from her and-"

"Wait. Mother?" Peridot put her screen down and looked at Steven with utter confusion. "Impossible. Gems do not have mothers or fathers. We are synthesized beings unable to have a mixture of genes. There are multiple copies of the same gem assigned a certain role in Homeworld. There is no such thing as 'family' in Homeworld. That is a simply preposterous concept." Peridot mused.

"Whaat? My dad says family is the most important thing in life." Steven explained.

"Your father? Another gem?" Peridot said with shock. "How many gems are on this planet?" Peridot groaned in frustration. Clearly Earth had much more than she had signed up for.

"What? My dad? He's a human." Steven replied. Peridot was more confused than ever.

"So. Your father is a human and your mother is a gem?" Peridot clarified more for herself than for anyone else. Steven nodded. Peridot took a moment to soak all this information in. Humans? Gems? Producing offspring? It was unheard of. Gems could not reproduce. Kindergartens existed for that purpose, to produce and harvest gems. Peridot blinked, as if coming to a realization.

"Um, the 'Steven'…" Peridot began.

"Just Steven is fine." He replied.

"Right. Steven. Who _exactly_ is your mother?" Peridot asked, somewhat nervous about the answer.

"My mom?" Steven's expression changed. "Rose. Rose Quartz. Why?" Peridot's heart dropped. Rose Quartz? The famous rebel leader? Peridot wasn't alive during the famous rebel wars, but she had learned enough from her superiors about the awful war that left thousands of gems shattered and captured by Rose and her army. How could his mother be the ruthless Rose Quartz? He was far too…innocent.

"Why do you ask?" Steven chimed. Did he even know about the wars? Did he know what his mother did to other gems? Did he know his own mother was a murderer? Peridot opened her mouth to respond to the human-gem hybrid but found herself cut off by another voice.

"Dang it!" Ronaldo cursed under his breath as his pencil snapped. Both Peridot and Steven turned to look at him scramble around for a pencil sharpener to no avail.

"Have you been listening to our conversation?" Peridot asked with a bitter tone.

"Well, yeah. This is important information for my blog!" Ronaldo reasoned. He switched to a pen and sat back down in his spot on the floor.

"You've been taking notes, as well?" Peridot hissed. Ronaldo shyly nodded. Peridot was fuming. She felt like an animal being monitored by beings lower than her. It was simply insulting. She opened her mouth to yell at Ronaldo when a tune interrupted her. She grumbled in annoyance. Steven's ringtone echoed through the lighthouse tower and the two other residents stared at him as he fumbled around for the device. Peridot watched as Steven took out another electronic device similar to Ronaldo's and pressed it up to his ear, taking mental notes of everything she saw.

"Hello?...Oh, hi Pearl!" Steven chirped. Peridot stiffened.

'Pearl, the tall defective one from the other day?" Peridot thought. She listened closely on Steven's conversation.

"Yeah, I'm still here at Ronaldo's house…Aww, I have to come home now? It's not even that late!" Steven said with a pout. "What? It's already 10 PM?" Steven glanced at the wall where a clock hung. "Oh my gosh! Sorry, Pearl! I didn't mean to stay so late!...Right, I'm on my way back right now! Bye!" Steven hung up on his phone and stood back up.

"Sorry. Ronaldo, I have to go home. I'm sure the gems are going to be excited to hear that I found Peridot!" Steven said halfway out of the door.

"Wait! You're telling the others about me?" Peridot yelped stumbling up onto her feet.

"Well, yeah. Last time I didn't tell the gems about something Garnet nearly shot me into space…" Steven shivered recalling the time he found Peridot's escape pod. Peridot shook with nervousness. No, it was bad enough that one gem found her, now all the Crystal Gems would be notified of her location? She was good as dead unless she stopped him, but Peridot found herself at a loss of words.

"Y-You can't! They'll have me taken away! They'll capture me or kill me!" Peridot said with panic.

"I don't know, Peridot. I mean, I can't just keep you a secret from them forever." Steven said scratching the back of his neck with nervousness. Peridot was frozen. This was it. Once the gems knew she was here she would be pursued for sure.

"Wait, Steven." Ronaldo spoke up. Both the green gem and the half gem looked up. "Do you think you could keep Peridot a secret for just a little bit longer?" He asked.

"Why?" Steven asked with confusion.

"Well, because I need to conduct more…research for my blog." Ronaldo replied. "Please, Steven! This is really important for me."

Steven looked surprised at Ronaldo's reply. Steven knew how much Ronaldo's blog meant to him, but he was willing to watch over Peridot just to get information for it?

"Well, I guess. But only until you get all the information for your blog, okay Ronaldo?" Steven said with hesitation. He knew he should tell the gems, but he also knew how much Ronaldo wanted this for his blog.

"Please, Steven. Do not tell the gems!" Peridot added. Steven gave a soft smile.

"Alright Peridot, I won't tell any _gems _where you are." Steven emphasized. Steven turned to Ronaldo. "Ronaldo, please take care of Peridot while you're doing your research! She still has to become a Crystal gem!" Steven said with a small laugh and left out the door.

Both Peridot and Ronaldo gave a sigh of relief.

"'Become a Crystal Gem'" Peridot repeated Steven's words with a scoff. "As if I would ever join a band of rebels." Peridot hissed. There was a silence that settled on the room.

"…Who are the Crystal Gems?" Ronaldo asked with a lost expression.

Peridot sighed with annoyance. She was going to have a lot to explain.

* * *

Steven rushed through the door and up the stairs to his little makeshift room. From the silence of the house Steven could tell the gems were still on their mission. Steven turned on his phone and lied down with his stomach on his bed, dialing a number.

"Connie! You will never guess who I found today!"

* * *

_A/N: Well, technically he didn't tell the _gems_..._

_Please leave a review for more! _


	6. Chapter 5

_A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! As mentioned by **Zenet2527**, this fic is heavily inspired by **Tarajenkins** on Tumblr! I highly recommend you check out her blog for more Peridot x Ronaldo fun! I also post Peridot x Ronaldo on my own Tumblr (**theartsideofsam**) as well!  
__Now without further ado,here is Chapter 5!_

* * *

"So, are you going to explain to me where you came from?" Ronaldo asked.

"That's classified." Peridot answered immediately.

"What about who your leader is?" Ronaldo pestered. Peridot growled in frustration.

"That's classified." She said for the 17th time since Ronaldo started asking questions.

"Okay, you can't answer with 'that's classified' for everything! I want answers! Otherwise, I'll have nothing for my blog!" Ronaldo said stomping his foot down.

"The information of me and about gemkind is highly confidential. Humans do not need this information. I suggest you dismiss this insistent nature as I will not reveal anything further to you." Peridot said tapping on her screen.

"I just saved your butt back there with Steven! You seemed pretty terrified when he bought up the 'Crystal Gems'…whoever they are…" Ronaldo reasoned. Peridot stiffened at the name of her enemy.

"Of course I would panic. The Crystal Gems are our enemy. It is only natural that I wish to stay hidden from them." Peridot insisted.

"Who is 'us.'" Ronaldo asked.

"Of course me and the gems of Homeworld." Peridot said.

"Uh, huh…Home….world…" Ronaldo repeated as he jotted down the answer on his phone.

"Homeworld is one word." Peridot corrected. Her eyes suddenly widened and her attention changed to Ronaldo who was writing down every word she said. "Hey! Stop recording this! I did not give you permission."

"Well, you didn't say I couldn't." Ronaldo reasoned. Peridot rolled her eyes.

"No more questions. I have already revealed too much." Peridot said returning to her own screen.

"I really don't understand why you can't tell me more." Ronaldo said. Peridot felt her irritation grow. Humans were so incompetent and idiotic. Did she really have to spell it out for him why she was in danger every second she remained on this planet?

"My leader will have me terminated if I reveal any more information to the human race." Peridot answered with bitterness.

"I never understand why aliens always want to go back to their tyrant leaders! It's literally in every sci-fi movie!" Ronaldo said.

"Maybe it's because they have nowhere else to go!" Peridot snapped. She had enough of this human's nonsense. How dare he insult Homeworld. Sure, Yellow Diamond was a tyrant who would have any gem killed for just forgetting to bring her a foot stool, but Peridot had no business to complain. Homeworld was all she had. It is all she knows. How could she complain about Yellow Diamond's ways if she had nowhere else to go?

"You could always stay here." Ronaldo said without much thought. Peridot turned to face him with a shocked expression.

"Excuse me?" she asked asking for an explanation.

"Well, if you're only argument is that you would have nowhere else to go, you could always just stay on Earth. Look, I don't know who Yellow Diamond is but she seems more like an evil dictator rather than a leader. Earth really isn't that bad. Isn't that why the 'Crystal Gems' stayed here instead of going back?" Ronaldo said trying to put together pieces of facts he had gained from the past few hours. Peridot stared at him with surprise. She wouldn't admit it, but Ronaldo was right. There was no way Peridot could go back without a punishment awaiting her after failing her mission and losing Jasper and Lapis. Going back to Homeworld meant facing Yellow Diamond with failure on her hands, but what would staying on Earth mean?

"You don't know what you're talking about." Peridot whispered with a voice full of uncertainty. She was scared, but she had to ignore the fear rising in her gut. She needed to return to Homeworld and face whatever she had coming. That was the right thing to do. There was no way she could stay on Earth. Peridot typed furiously on her screen, trying to contact Homeworld. Even with her advanced technology, Earth was quite a distance from Homeworld. Her technology was not sufficient enough to contact Yellow Diamond alone.

'How am I going to request backup?' Peridot thought. There was no way she could warp back. The galaxy warp was still damaged. Even still, the only warp pad she knew she could access on Earth was the Kindergarten warp. 'Wait, the Kindergarten!' Peridot typed on her screen and pulled up the exact coordinates of the Kindergarten. Yes, it was within walking distance. The Kindergarten technology was archaic, but had a signal strong enough to reach Homeworld. If she could get back into the control room, she could easily contact Yellow Diamond. She just needed an opportunity to get there…

A sudden growl interrupted Peridot's thoughts.

She looked over at Ronaldo who was busy tapping on his own device as if nothing had happened.

"What was that?" Peridot questioned.

"What was what?" Another muffled growl echoed through the room.

"Oh, that. It was probably my stomach. I haven't eaten since yesterday. I should probably go grab something to eat." Ronaldo said and got up, stretching his back. Thousands of questions flew into her mind. Humans made noises when they were hungry? Did their stomachs speak to them when food was needed? What was the purpose of eating? Peridot opened her mouth to ask, but Ronaldo spoke up.

"Speaking of eating, what do you eat? Some kind of weird space goop? Or do you feed off souls or something?" Ronaldo asked.

"Don't be ridiculous. Gems do not need to feed." Peridot insisted.

"What? You don't eat? That is simply unacceptable. Come on, we're going to get something to eat. Besides, I have to keep an eye on you since I promised Steven." Peridot sighed and got to her feet.

"Very well. However, you can not expect me to walk around the city without getting caught by the Crystal Gems. I do not exactly fit in with other humans." Peridot mumbled.

"Oh, right. Wait right there." Ronaldo dashed to the other side of the room and dug through a wardrobe, pulling out capes, props, and other odd pieces of clothing. "Here we go." Ronaldo tossed Peridot a large piece of clothing and Peridot roughly caught it. She looked at it and grimaced. It was a fairly large 'sweatshirt' as humans called it. It was much too large for her slim body. "I know it's too big for you, but I figured you would need a good disguise. Here's some shades if you want them too." Ronaldo said handing her a pair of sunglasses.

"I think I will be fine without them." Peridot said slipping on the sweatshirt. It was large and baggy around her body and the sleeves were well passed her detached fingers. The hood was large enough to cover her hair and part of her face. "I suppose this disguise will suffice."

"Alright, then lets head out!" Ronaldo said making his way downstairs. Peridot followed silently. "I think you'll like food. I mean, even if you are an alien, food is great. It's hard to explain but I'm sure you'll get it once you try some of it." Peridot grimaced. She didn't like the idea of having to follow this human around and the thought of having to engage in human customs such as eating simply disgusted her. She is a gem. It was best that she stayed out of human affairs. "While we're out, I might as well give you a tour of Beach City." Peridot's rolled her eyes. Great, a tour. She really didn't need to be walked around and guided around this foreign planet she wanted to get off of. She just needed to get to the Kindergarten.

'Wait…the Kindergarten! That's it!' Peridot thought. She looked over at Ronaldo who walked out of the lighthouse.

"Ronaldo, after this 'tour' of yours, might I suggest another destination?" She asked with a very fake happy tone.

"Um, sure? Where to?" Ronaldo said suspiciously, slightly put off by her change in voice.

"Do not worry about it. I already know where it is and I will take you there once you are done with your 'tour.'" Peridot said slightly ignoring his suspicious glances. Ronaldo was very cautious. If there was anything sci-fi movies taught him, it was that aliens were crafty and he could not be tricked by them. However, he quickly realized that Peridot might lead him right to the center of some paranormal area. If he followed, he might get great material for his blog!

"Alright, Peridot."

* * *

_A/N: Hm, Ronaldo, are you sure that's a good idea? Leave a review to find out in the next chapters!_


	7. Chapter 6

_A/N: Thanks for the great feedback! _

_Lots of you mentioned the location of the Kindergarten being further than Peridot thinks. Indeed, it is probably further than a simple walking distance (the hiatus has got me forgetting my canon facts!). However, you will just have to wait and see what will happen with Peridot and Ronaldo regarding their trek to the Kindergarten! Stay Tuned! Until then, here is Chapter 6!_

* * *

Peridot's boots hit the sand as they marched up the shoreline of the beach away from the lighthouse. She could feel the unfamiliar warmth of the sun on her covered body. Ronaldo trekked just a few feet in front of her guiding along the way.

"This is where I found the holes dug by the sneeple on the side of the cliff." Ronaldo pointed out directing Peridot's attention to the rocky surface. "Of course, I still need to conduct more research on it. After all, it seems that Steven has been the source of everything weird happening lately." Peridot rolled her eyes under the shade of the hood. Of course Steven and the Crystal Gems were the source of all these "paranormal events" Ronaldo had pointed out to her during his "tour." According to Peridot's records, Earth was a very simplistic planet compared to Homeworld and gemkind. The sun provided heat for its inhabitants to live and feed off of what grew off of said heat through the transfer of energy and so on and so forth. Reading up on this was a bore to Peridot since she came from a planet of such complex history and technology. Everything on Earth was simply archaic.

"And this is the city walk, exactly where we need to be!" Ronaldo said walking up to a store. Peridot looked up at the sign to take note of where she was.

"Fish Stew Pizza?" She read with confusion. None of that made any sense to her, but she followed Ronaldo in nonetheless. The bell atop the door rang as they entered the small shop.

"Oh, hey Ronaldo!" A voice chirped from behind the counter. A tall, dark skinned girl set her elbows on the counter as Ronaldo walked up to her.

"Hello, Jenny." Ronaldo said with a polite wave.

"Here for some more late night blogging?" Jenny joked knowing Ronaldo often came to blog and eat pizza during his spare time.

"Sorry, not today. I'm in a rush. I just really need something to eat before I give my friend here a tour." Ronaldo explained glancing at Peridot who was standing behind him. Jenny couldn't help but grin at this.

"Oh, Ronaldo you ought to tell me when you got yourself a girlfriend! Who knew you were such a ladies man?" Jenny said playfully shoving him. Ronaldo never showed up to her shop with anyone. For him to bring a girl in was some major improvement.

Ronaldo's cheeks quickly heated up to a blush.

"Wh-no, no. She's just a guest that came by from-uh- out of town! I wanted to give her a tour of Beach City so she would be more comfortable. Nothing romantic whatsoever!" Ronaldo stuttered. Jenny laughed at seeing her friend so flustered.

"Relax, Ronaldo. I'm just joking around." Jenny said bringing out a hot box of pizza. "One large pepperoni pizza as always, right?"

"Yes." Ronaldo muttered through his hand covering his red cheeks. He dug through his pockets and pulled out a $10 bill handing it to Jenny who waved it off.

"It's on the house." She said with a sincere smile. "Since it's for you and your new friend." Jenny leaned over the counter and whispered. "Gotta make her like me so she'll come back, you know?"

"Alright, well thanks! Stop by later and I'll give you some fry bits in return!" Ronaldo said sitting down at a table. Peridot sat across from him with a bored expression. She simply did not understand human relationships. Why get so flustered over one another when none of it really mattered? Peridot was snapped out of her thoughts when a plate fell in front of her face. She blinked her eyes at the odd triangular food source Ronaldo had placed in front of her. It was hot and glistening with a slick oily substance. Peridot couldn't help but grimace at the greasy substance in front of her. Is this what humans ate? She looked up in front of her to have her question answered. Ronaldo had already started to dig into the triangular slice with delighted chews, content to have his hunger finally satisfied. Peridot shivered. How was this enjoyable? Putting mush in your mouth and then swallowing it into your body? Surely that was not an entertaining experience.

"Are you going to try it?" Ronaldo asked wiping his mouth. Peridot grimaced at the sight. "It's good." He insisted. Obviously he was not going to stop pestering her until she tried this odd human food. Peridot let out a sigh of defeat and picked up the drooping slice.

'I'm probably going to regret this later.' She thought as she bit her teeth into the soft warm mush of pizza. Almost instantly the flavor of it coated her mouth and her eyes lit up with surprise. It was defiantly a new sensation, but it was surprisingly pleasant. The warm flavor was a wonderful salty and tangy mix that was new to her. She pulled her mouth away with the stringy cheese drooping from her mouth. Ronaldo couldn't help but laugh at the sight of the gem struggling with the melted cheese.

"I probably should have warned you about the cheese." Ronaldo said grabbing a plastic knife. "Here, let me help you." He leaned over and freed Peridot from her greasy prison.

"T-Thank you." Peridot muttered, not used to using that phrase. She went back to cautiously finishing her slice and Ronaldo grabbed another slice from the box, eating his fill. Peridot quickly finished her own slice and sat there watching him eat. She couldn't help but want another slice of the satisfying food, but she found herself twiddling with her fingers nervously.

"Did you want another slice?" Ronaldo asked noticing her stare. Peridot couldn't help but blush in embarrassment.

"…Perhaps…" she said nervously. Ronaldo looked at her with sympathy. From what he learned, Peridot worked under a tyrant who was not exactly merciful. She probably was not one to ask for more than she was given.

"Here." Ronaldo opened the box and let Peridot take another slice. "You don't have to ask, you know?"

"I…don't…?" Peridot trailed off with surprise. She was not used to this sort of kindness. At Homeworld, she only received what was given. Asking for any more would surely result in punishment. A needy gem was not an efficient gem, not to Yellow Diamond.

"I got it for us to share. There's plenty more things to eat at Beach City so help yourself." Ronaldo explained. Peridot knew what sharing was, but she never had experienced it herself. This sort of kindness and this concept of food were all new to her, but it was defiantly not unpleasant in any way. Maybe she really could stay here…

Peridot shook her head of the thought. No. That is just what he wanted her to believe. She needed to stay focused on the true mission.

Get to the Kindergarten and contact Homeworld to get off this planet.

* * *

_A/N: This is part 1 of Ronaldo's tour around Beach City. I was debating on making it one long chapter but I thought that you all would want the chapter sooner so I'm splitting Ronaldo's tour around Beach City to two parts. The next chapter will be a continuation of Ronaldo showing Peridot around Beach City. _

_Until then, leave a review for more Perinoldo activity! _


	8. Chapter 7

_A/N: Apologies ahead of time if there are mistakes in this chapter. I wanted to get it out as soon as possible and there is alot going on in this chapter! _

_Here is Chapter 7_

* * *

"And here is where I got hit in the face with a suspicious extra-terrestrial t-shirt." Ronaldo said as he walked down another stretch of the boardwalk with Peridot following beside him. "Of course, I found out later that it was just Steven again." Ronaldo said chuckling nervously. Peridot listened silently as Ronaldo continued his tour.

"Yes…very….fascinating." Peridot mumbled pretending to enjoy standing in the heat of the sun. While half of her was intrigued by this planet's customs and tales, the other half of her mind screamed for her to stop growing so attached to this floating hunk of rock. 'Get to the Kindergarten, contact Yellow Diamond, get back to Homeworld.' She whispered to herself over and over again. She ran into Ronaldo who had stopped walking and nearly lost her balance. She opened her mouth to fire an insult, but Ronaldo quickly turned around with an apology.

"Ah! Sorry about that. It's just really hot and I thought we should take a break." Ronaldo huffed. He was sweating a lot and Peridot could tell he was out of breath. The two took a seat in the sand facing the ocean. "Are you not hot?" Ronaldo said gesturing to Peridot who was covered in a huge sweatshirt with the hood over her face.

"Temperature is an abstract concept to gems. We can adapt to temperature easily. While we may feel heat and cold, it hardly bothers us." Peridot explains.

"So you don't feel anything?" Ronaldo asked. He wished he had brought his notebook to record this information.

"Of course not. My work does not require me to physically _feel_ anything." Peridot explained. This was normal to her. Peridots were assigned technical tasks and any spare time would be filled with more jobs by their superiors. Feeling was not only unnecessary, but there simply was no time for such a thing.

"So, do you feel emotions?" Ronaldo asked. Peridot stiffened. Emotions. Those were very different from physical feelings. While it was very easy for her to completely block out physical feeling of temperature, emotions were completely different. No matter how hard she tried, she could not block out emotions. Emotions were a burden upon her and a handicap in working. Although she tried her best not to feel emotion, there were times where she could not hide the fear or the sadness she felt. She remembered the screams of her comrades being executed as a public reminder of what would happen if a gem were to defy Yellow Diamond. Peridot felt her body shake and her breath waver. Is that what would happen to her for failing the mission? Is that what awaited her back in Homeworld? A hand touched her shoulder and she jumped defensively.

"Peridot? Are you okay? You seemed to have zoned out a bit." Ronaldo said.

"I _will not_ feel emotions." She lashed out without thinking, slapping his hand away. "I _can not_ feel emotions." She robotically repeated to herself as if she had said this to herself many times in the past. She stiffly brought her legs to her chest and curled up against them, her void eyes staring at nothing. Fear. That is what she was feeling right now. It was the only feeling she ever felt, and she hated it.

Ronaldo stared at the shaking gem in shock. He knew that her leader was a tyrant, but he did not expect it to be this bad. She was trembling at the thought of having emotions. He had seen enough movies and read enough books to know this was a case of trauma under an unforgiving commander.

'What did those movies do in this scenario? No, that is not how I should approach this.' Ronaldo thought to himself. 'What would Steven do?' he remembered how well the young boy handled stressful situations like this.

Peridot felt her chest tighten up and the ground tilt in her vision. She gasped for air she didn't need in a failed attempt to calm herself. Instead, she squeezed her eyes shut. 'Stop. Emotions do not control me. I must return to the mission. I must contact Yellow Diamond. I must-' She felt two arms wrap around her body and her breath hitched. Her eyes shot open and she looked down to see a pair of familiar hands around her torso. She felt panic rise in her from the unfamiliar hold and dug her fingers into his arms frantically.

"Shh. It's okay. I'm sorry I asked about that. It was probably a touchy subject." Ronaldo gently said. He had to admit that it was rather uncharacteristic of him to hug someone and from the painful digging at his skin he probably was doing it wrong, but he did not know how else to show the sensitive gem that she was not a machine. She was not someone who had to work under that tyrant. She was not some mindless servant. She may not be human, but what he saw in front of him was a being capable of thinking and feeling. "You…You're not a machine. Shouldn't you stop acting like it?"

Peridot stopped clawing at him and her arms fell limply at her side. 'Not a machine?' Who was he to say that? She was the very definition of a machine. Peridots were mass produced to be technicians. Weak gems who could not fight could only work back-breaking labor for their superiors. That is how it worked in Homeworld. That is all she knew. Peridot roughly shoved him away.

"You…need to stop acting like you understand me. You are just a human. What could you know?" Peridot said. She looked at the ocean and frowned. She remembered the ocean gem that was held prisoner on her ship. Lapis Lazulis could form wings to fly. What could Peridots do? Nothing but sit and wait for their commander. Weak.

A familiar ringtone pierced the air breaking Peridot's chain of thought. She looked over to see Ronaldo struggle with the buttons on his pockets to get his phone. He quickly answered the call, putting the cellular device to his ear.

"Hello?"

"RONALDO WHERE ARE YOU?" A loud squeaky voice screamed on the other side of the line. Ronaldo winced at the loud noise in his ear.

"Peedee? I told you I have an important paranormal mission I'm partaking in!" Ronaldo explained.

"You were supposed to help me close up shop today! I don't care what your mission is this time! You said you would help me today!" Peedee answered.

"What? Close up shop? Is it that late already?" Ronaldo asked looking into the horizon surprised to see that the sun was already setting. "Oh."

"Get your butt over here and help me or I'm telling dad!" Peedee barked and hung up. Ronaldo sighed with annoyance. His brother simply did not understand the importance of the paranormal.

"Sorry, I have to go help my brother with my dad's shop. I suppose you will have to come with me." Ronaldo said awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.

'A brother and a father? I see. Earth relationships allowed for family units.' Peridot thought to herself. Ronaldo got up off the sand and dusted himself off offering his hand to help Peridot up. Peridot stared at his hand with slight hesitation before allowing him to help her up off the ground.

"It's not that far so we'll just walk along the beach." Ronaldo explained beginning to make his way down the shoreline. Peridot followed behind, stuffing her hands in the pockets of the sweatshirt. Her mind was still swarming with all that had just happened. Emotions? Freedom? No. It was best she did not think of these ideas. She did not need them for the past thousands of years and she would not need them now.

The outline of an oddly shaped corner store came into view and Ronaldo quickly picked up his pace. He quickly rushed through the door with a huff with Peridot slowly following.

"I'm here!" he panted with sweat rolling down his face. A short boy with a trash bag far too large for him slung over his shoulder gave an annoyed frown as he walked in from the closet.

"About time!" he mumbled and stumbled out the door they had entered to get rid of the trash.

"Ronaldo Fryman! What are you doing leaving your brother to close shop himself?" a booming voice growled. Ronaldo flinched and turned around to see his towering father with his arms across his chest.

"Peedee! You called dad on me?" Ronaldo asked feeling slightly betrayed.

"Don't blame your brother! I came here on my own account!" his dad said. Ronaldo gulped. Peridot observed.

'So this is what family units were like? It seems that he is the authoritative figure here.' Peridot mentally noted realizing the familiarity of Ronaldo's actions around his father.

"Honestly! What were you doing out this late anyway? I swear if you were out stirring up trouble I will-" a crash interrupted Mr. Fryman and all three of the boys looked at the source of the sound. Peridot nervously eyed the broken salt shaker beside her. She had bumped into it while she was trying to take notes on her monitor.

'Oh no, oh no!' Peridot screamed in her head. She shook in fear of the authoritative figure that towered over her.

"Ronaldo!" He snapped instead turning to his eldest son. Ronaldo almost jumped in his shoes when he heard his name being called. "Why didn't you tell me you had a girlfriend?" Ronaldo groaned as his cheeks heated up and slapped his hand over his face.

"Dad, _please _stop jumping to conclusions." Ronaldo huffed with embarrassment. "She is just a friend visiting from out of town." He explained again.

"Oh, I see." Mr. Fryman said with slight disbelief. "What is her name?" he asked. Ronaldo felt sweat roll down his face.

"Ah, her name?" Ronaldo gulped. Using Peridot's real name probably was not safe since her name was a gemstone and might arouse suspicion. "Her name is…um…Peri!" Ronaldo quickly stuttered hoping to sound believable. His father narrowed his eyes before finally nodding his head.

"Well, it is getting late so you should probably escort your _friend_ home." Mr. Fryman said.

"Really? I mean- Thanks, dad!" Ronaldo said quickly and opened the door for Peridot. She walked out first and Ronaldo was about to follow behind her when he heard his father call his name again.

"Ronaldo!" he called out. "Remember to keep it appropriate!" he said. Ronaldo's face turned red. He quickly shut the door and caught up with Peridot, heading back to the lighthouse on the hill over the ocean which bubbled ominously.

* * *

_A/N: Thanks! Leave a review! _


	9. Chapter 8

_A/N: This chapter will be covering what happened with Steven and Connie after Chapter 4. Some events from the past chapters WILL be revisited. However, this chapter will come important to the plot so please don't skip over it! _

_Also, I will be doing livewrite/livestreaming with Cracked Landing (possibly today 6/8/2015). _

_There will be details at the END of this chapter so for now, enjoy Chapter 8! _

* * *

"So Ronaldo found Peridot and took her in?" Connie repeated Steven's words to make sure she had heard correctly. Steven nodded.

"Yep. It seems that they're getting along fine." Steven said popping another piece of popcorn in his mouth. After he had told Connie over the phone what had happened, she rushed over with excitement.

"What makes you say that?" Connie asked with curiosity.

"Well, when I found them, Ronaldo was on top of Peridot. I think they were wrestling." Steven said innocently. Connie, on the other hand, almost spit out her lemonade in shock.

"Um, right…wrestling." Connie said with a nervous blush. "Steven, are you sure it's a good idea to just leave them alone together? I mean, Peridot _is _a _Homeworld _gem. Aren't you afraid she's going to try to go back?" Steven hummed in thought and tapped his chin.

"You bring a good point." Steven began. "I know! Let's spy on them!" Steven exclaimed with an excited grin.

"Spy on them? Are you sure that's a good idea, Steven?" Connie said with reluctance.

"Of course! That way, we can make sure Peridot won't try anything suspicious!" Steven reasoned.

"Well, I suppose it is better than leaving her and Ronaldo alone." Connie said. "But how are we going to be able to spy on them without them noticing us?"

"Hm." Steven hummed with thought. "I could try to shapeshift into a cat!" Steven suggested.

"Woah! You can do that?" Connie gasped in surprise.

"Totally! Just watch!" Steven exclaimed standing on his feet.

* * *

"And what did we learn?" Garnet asked.

"No shapeshifting until I have control of it." Steven pouted getting out of the ocean. After he attempted to turn into a cat again, he lost control of it and tiny cat heads started taking over his body again. He was lucky that Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl had returned fast enough to toss him into the ocean where the cats disappeared with the water.

"Honestly, we thought you would have learned after the first time you got into this mess." Pearl groaned.

"This has happened before?" Connie gasped, still in shock after seeing her friend being taken over by cat heads. Steven hesitated and shuffled his feet nervously. "Steven." Connie said sternly, trying to coax an answer out of him. Steven gulped with guilt and nervously nodded. "Steven! This happened before and you still tried to do it?" Connie scolded.

"I thought I could handle it." Steven whimpered. Connie let out a sigh.

"Oh, Steven. At least you're okay now." She said with relief.

"Yeah, thanks to us. Why were you shapeshifting again anyway?" Amethyst asked with curiosity. Both Connie and Steven stiffened.

"We-uh-because…you see.." Steven stuttered.

"I really wanted a cat when I was little and so Steven said he could turn into one!" Connie piped in. The group stood in silence for a while before Garnet finally spoke up.

"Well, if that's what happened then we must return to our mission. Steven you should stay here and make sure Connie gets home safely." Garnet said calmly.

"Uh. Good idea! Well you guys should go on your important gem mission now!" Steven said pushing the three towards the temple.

"Are you sure you're okay, Steven?" Pearl asked with worry.

"Yep! Perfectly fine! Alright, bye!" Steven said waving at the three older gems who left the two alone on the beach, taking the warp pad to their new destination. Steven plopped back down in the sand next to Connie with a huff and fell back, staring at the sky.

"Now what? We still need a disguise to spy on them." Steven groaned. Connie tapped on her chin with thought but found that even she could not think of anything.

"I don't know. Maybe we really should just leave them be." Connie sighed with defeat. Steven listened to the ocean waves crash on the cliffs and shift the sand below their feet. It was so peaceful and rhythmic. It reminded him a lot of-

"Connie, that's it!" Steven shot up on his feet.

"What?" Connie said puzzled.

"Who does Ronaldo and Peridot not know?" Steven asked. Connie just stared at Steven with confusion. "Stevonnie! Stevonnie can spy on Peridot and Ronaldo without them knowing since they won't know it's us!"

"That does sound promising." Connie said with surprise. "Are you sure, Steven? Can we even form Stevonnie again? Last time it was an accident."

"We won't know until we try." Steven said with an outstretched hand. Connie couldn't help but blush when Steven helped her up twirling her right into the dance.

* * *

"I think they went this way?" Stevonnie whispered, tiptoeing past the corner of the boardwalk. "I can't believe fusing was so easy!"

Stevonnie peered from behind a bench when they spotted Ronaldo and Peridot make their way into Fish Stew Pizza.

"Aw, I want some pizza." Stevonnie pouted but quickly shook their head. "Food later, spying now!" Stevonnie slowly made their way to a bench near the shop and crouched behind it, watching Peridot and Ronaldo from the window.

"Is Ronaldo actually trying to get Peridot to try food?" Stevonnie said with surprise. "I couldn't even get Pearl to eat food! That's not fair." Stevonnie's stomach growled as they watched the two enjoy a full box of pizza.

"Well at least they're getting along well. I told you there was nothing to worry about." Came Steven's half of Stevonnie. They watched for a while, but quickly found their eyelids drooping with boredom of just watching the two eat pizza.

Stevonnie almost jumped when they heard the bell of the shop ring as the two exited. They watched as Peridot and Ronaldo made their way from the shop to the beach. By now, the sun was already setting and Stevonnie gulped remembering Connie's curfew. Stevonnie had to admit that following the two was not as fun as they had thought it would be. So far, all they had done was eat pizza and walk around, nothing out of the ordinary.

"Well I suppose that's a good thing." Stevonnie said out loud to no one in particular. They wiped the sweat off their forehead and let out a sigh. "Why couldn't they do more indoor activities?" Stevonnie let out a sigh of relief when they saw Ronaldo and Peridot stop and take a break by the shore. Quietly, Stevonnie took a seat behind a rock so they could spy on them without being noticed.

A loud squawk sounded in Stevonnie's ear and they jumped. A seagull sat at the top of the rock chirping loudly in the air.

"Shh!" Stevonnie shushed the bird, not wanting their hiding spot to be revealed but the bird simply went along chirping. "Shh!" Stevonnie shushed a little louder. Stevonnie raised her arms and swatted the bird away, but not without being pecked angrily in the head.

"I _will not_ feel emotions!" Peridot's voice shrieked, drawing Stevonnie's attention to the two on the beach. Peridot's body shook with fear and Stevonnie's heart sank. Steven's half of Stevonnie had to fight the urge to go comfort the scared gem. Surprisingly, Ronaldo beat him to it. Stevonnie gasped and quickly put their hands over their lips trying to hold back an excited squeal as Ronaldo wrapped his hands around Peridot's small frame.

"I think they're going to be just fine." Stevonnie said with a satisfied smile at what they were seeing on the beach. With a quick jump, Stevonnie got back on their feet and made their way back to the temple, leaving the human and gem on the beach alone.

However, in Stevonnie's desperation to stay hidden, they failed to notice the purple gem resting in the middle of the seagull's feathers.

* * *

"I knew there was nothing to worry about!" Stevonnie cheered as they entered the house. "Mission accomplished."

A familiar shriek entered the room and Stevonnie jumped as a seagull swooped down over their head.

"You again?" Stevonnie said with surprise, wondering how the bird followed them back.

"Ah, Stevonnie. How nice to see you again." A familiar voice said. Stevonnie stiffened and slowly turned around, afraid to see where the source of the voice came from. Pearl and Garnet stood at the door with their arms crossed.

"Garnet!"

"Pearl!"

In their shock, Stevonnie quickly diffused back into Steven and Connie and they landed on the floor with a plop. The seagull that had been resting on the beam above them swooped down and transformed back into the familiar purple gem.

"Amethyst! That was you?" Steven yelped with his jaw dropped.

"Well, Steven and Connie. Care to explain why Stevonnie was running around Beach City?" Pearl said angrily. Steven and Connie gulped. Garnet was the next to speak.

"And don't try to lie. We already know."

* * *

_A/N: Thanks for reading! _

_I used the pronoun "they" for Stevonnie because I was not sure what to refer to Stevonnie as since Stevonnie is "not two people" or "one person" but "an experience." I do apologize for any confusion. _

_I will be posting when the livestream will start on my Tumblr ( _**_ theartsideofsam .tumblr .com _**_ ) and also on my Livestream channel ( **PM me for the link**__) under "upcoming events". (take the spaces out the URL)_

_Do feel free to stop by and watch me work on the next chapter of Cracked Landing! I will also be taking requests for short oneshots and chatting with everyone who comes by! _

_See you all soon!_


	10. Chapter 9

_A/N: Special thanks to __cashmanmoney30 and__ azure-emerald for joining me in the livestream! I will definitely be having another livestream soon! Again, I will post when livestreams happen on my Tumblr. _

_Now, here is chapter 9 of Cracked Landing!_

* * *

Peridot and Ronaldo slowly walked up the hill to the lighthouse. Ronaldo felt his heart thud in his chest. What was with everyone assuming that Peridot and he were anything more than friends? Even saying they were friends was a stretch. Were they really friends? Ronaldo looked forward surprised to see that Peridot had stopped walking and stood halfway up the hill facing him.

"When are we going to my destination?" Peridot impatiently asked.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot about that." Ronaldo admitted with embarrassment. "We'll head out tomorrow morning. It is not safe to walk during night." Peridot frowned and marched up to him. Ronaldo was a whole head taller than her but that did not stop her from pointing a threatening finger on him.

"Listen here, _human._" She hissed. "I have a mission and I do not care what it takes to complete it. I will play along with your games, but we are nothing more but acquaintances and even that is a _stretch. _Do you understand?" she growled; however, it was more for herself than for Ronaldo. She was fed up with this human. He was brainwashing her to stay on Earth and Peridot needed to make it clear to him that she had responsibilities. She was no laid back human being, she was a machine for Homeworld. Ronaldo gulped at the sudden angry glare from Peridot and nodded with nervousness.

Seeing his silent gesture of agreement, Peridot turned and resumed walking back toward the lighthouse. Ronaldo sighed. The gem was far more servile to her leader than he had ever imagined. Convincing her otherwise seemed near impossible.

The two settled back in the dark room at the top of the lighthouse, only lit by the glowing beam above them. Ronaldo set up his makeshift couch bed and laid out a pillow and a thin blanket before grabbing a sleeping bag from the closet. Peridot stared at him, observing his actions carefully.

"You can have the couch bed." Ronaldo said gesturing to the pull out bed he had set up.

"Do not be ignorant. Gems do not need to sleep." Peridot said absentmindedly typing on her screen, having been freed of her sweatshirt disguise. Ronaldo frowned angrily.

"Listen, I know you're not used to kindness back from where you are from, but while you are here on my planet you can at least _pretend _to accept _my_ kindness!" Ronaldo snapped unintentionally. Peridot flinched and Ronaldo quickly noted his mistake. "I'm sorry." He sighed tiredly. "It's been a long day and _humans_ need to sleep." He tucked himself in his sleeping bag. "I should not have snapped like that. You're still free to use that bed if you would like. I'll see you in the morning." Ronaldo said dozing off.

Peridot let out a sigh. What was she feeling now? Guilt? Yes, it was rare but it seemed the only plausible feeling right now. She quietly walked over to Ronaldo wanting to apologize, but she was surprised to see that he was already fast asleep. His eyes were closed and his breath was rhythmic. His glasses were placed next to him on the floorboards and his closed eyes seemed relaxed. Is this what sleeping was like? Gems only slept for leisure and being a Peridot she was not allowed any time for leisure. While she had experienced it once or twice, it was only by accident and she was awoken to a harsh punishment for sleeping on the job. Peridot quietly made her way back to the couch bed and sat in the soft mattress with legs crossed. She had her screen pulled up which provided a soft glow on her face. Peridot stared at the blank screen, planning to type some observations on human sleep habits but found herself at a loss for words.

"Argh." Peridot groaned as words failed her and fell back into the sheets on the sofa bed. She stared at the light of the lighthouse as it rotated around, shining the light in her face at each rotation. It was so rhythmic and formatted to a single use. Peridot sighed. "Just like me, I suppose." She had done research on lighthouses during her stay here in the hideout. Lighthouses were used by humans to help navigate boats back to land, back _home._

'How ironic. After all, this isn't home.' Peridot said closing her eyes as sleep took over her body.

* * *

"Peridot!" a loud voice rang. Peridot's eyes snapped open and she bolted up. She looked around at the surrounding area and noticed that she was no longer in the lighthouse. Familiar metal walls encased her and the hum of electric fields sounded in her ears. "Peridot!" the voice said again. Peridot stumbled to her feet and quickly stood straight. Loud footsteps made the entire floor shake as the source of the voice walked into the room besides Peridot's. Nervously, Peridot peered past the wall and looked into the room where two gems were speaking.

"Peridot! What do you think you were doing?" Peridot almost collapsed with shock.

'Yellow Diamond? What is she doing here?' Peridot shook in fear at the larger gem who towered over another Peridot, much younger than herself.

"I-I-I was just-I'm sorry!" The other Peridot cried and fell to her knees without even acknowledging her mistake. Peridot gulped knowing the younger gem's error.

"You think you can just sleep without finishing your job? Who do you think you are?" Yellow Diamond's large heel stepped onto the gem's head with a loud crack following.

"I'm s-sorry! I-I'm sor-ry!" The young Peridot cried, her voice stuttering as a result of her cracked gem.

"Speak clearly when you are asking for forgiveness from your leader!" Yellow Diamond hissed pressing her foot down. More cracks sounded and Peridot fell to her knees in horror.

"I-I-I c-c-can't!" Peridot shut her eyes and put her hands over her ears, knowing what was to come.

"Then you are not worthy to serve me!" Yellow Diamond slammed her foot down on the Peridot's head and a shatter rang through the room. Peridot opened her eyes nervously and felt her stomach churn when she saw the remains of the Peridot on the floor underneath Yellow Diamond's feet.

"Stupid Peridots." Yellow Diamond scoffed and wiped the shattered remains off her heel. "Guards! Get me another Peridot to replace this one!" Peridot inched backwards away from the doorway in fear.

'No! I don't want to be next!' Peridot thought, tears forming in her eyes.

"You!" A guard's voice howled. Peridot stiffened. She slowly turned her head and nearly fainted when she saw the tall Topaz guard tower over her shaking body. "You heard Yellow Diamond!" The Topaz roughly pulled Peridot up by her hair and threw her into the room where Yellow Diamond stood. Peridot looked up at her leader from her spot on the floor and her pupils shrank with horror.

"Get up you useless gem!" Yellow Diamond said impatiently slamming her heel onto the floor. Peridot quickly stumbled to her feet and stood into her straight posture, saluting to Yellow Diamond.

"Y-Yes m-ma'am!" Peridot said accidently stuttering out of fear. Yellow Diamond narrowed her eyes and Peridot instantly knew her mistake.

"What? Are you broken too?" Yellow Diamond hissed with anger.

"No, ma'am!" Peridot said fixing her voice. Inside, she was falling apart, but she knew better than to show that to her superior.

"Good, now get to Jasper. She already had a mission laid out for that other Peridot, but you will do just fine." Yellow Diamond commanded. "I'm sure Jasper will hardly know the difference." She scoffed.

'Wait, Jasper?' Peridot thought remembering the familiar words.

"This isn't real. It's a memory." She accidentally said aloud. Yellow Diamond stopped in her tracks.

"What was that?" She said pulling Peridot up by her hair. Peridot winced at the sudden pressure on her head. "I can assure you, _Peridot_, my commands are all real." Yellow Diamond's palm tightened on Peridot's gem and Peridot screamed. "And if you think otherwise, then I have no need for a _faulty gem_ like _you._"

* * *

"Peridot!" Peridot's eyes snapped open. Rather than a forceful palm on her head, two hands were on her shoulder lightly shaking her. "Peridot." The technician gem looked up to see the familiar face of Ronaldo looking at her with worry. Her eyes quickly darted to the rest of the room, noticing the familiar wooden walls of the lighthouse. "Peridot, are you okay?" Ronaldo said taking a seat next to her on the sofa bed. "You were screaming."

Peridot noticed how quickly her breathing was and placed a hand on her chest. Ronaldo placed his palms on her cheeks and brought her face closer to his. Peridot felt his breath on her face and she felt her breathing quicken even more.

"Peridot." Ronaldo rubbed his thumbs over her cheeks. "You're crying." He said trying to brush her tears away.

Silence settled in the room.

"I didn't know gems could cry." Ronaldo said with surprise and took his hands off her cheek. "I have to write that down." Ronaldo said fumbling around his many pockets looking for a pencil and paper. Peridot watched as Ronaldo stumbled around the room in the dark, looking for his phone as well.

A chuckle interrupted Ronaldo's searching. Ronaldo looked over at the green gem who was giggling from where she was sitting. He smiled.

"Are you laughing?" He asked walking back over to the couch bed. Peridot quickly stopped noticing her action.

"N-no." She insisted. Ronaldo laughed.

"I'm glad you're feeling better." He said with a hand on her shoulder. Peridot didn't want to admit it, but she really did. Ronaldo wanted to ask what caused Peridot such distress but decided against it. He would much rather see her happy than upset. Ronaldo stretched and got back on his feet, walking over to the closet where he kept a spare change of clothes.

"Well, it's morning. We can head over to that place you wanted to visit now." Ronaldo said. Peridot had nearly forgotten the mission.

"R-Right." Peridot said nervously.

'Go to the Kindergarten, contact Yellow Diamond-" Images of her dream flashed in her mind and Peridot felt her knees shake. "-Get back home."

Could she even call Homeworld that anymore?

* * *

_A/N: Thanks for reading! Leave a review and I will have Chapter 10 up soon!_


	11. Chapter 10

_A/N: How is everyone holding up with the StevenBomb this week? Good? _

_I wasn't going to upload this chapter today, but I figured that since today would be the Kindergarten episode it would only be appropriate..._

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Ronaldo panted. Peridot had her screen pulled up as a map to where the Kindergarten was to be. They had been walking for the past five hours and only stopped to eat a quick lunch at a rest stop. "Peridot, no offense but I'm pretty sure I saw that same tree an hour ago. We're lost aren't we?" Ronaldo huffed.

"No we are not! As a Peridot I have access to the most advanced gem technology! There is no way to be lost." Peridot scoffed.

"Why do you keep saying that?" Ronaldo asked.

"Saying what?"

"'A Peridot.' 'The Steven.' Why do you keep referring to something as if there's more than one?" Ronaldo asked with curiosity.

"Because it is true." Peridot said simply. "I am not the only Peridot. There are multiple Peridots in Homeworld."

"But you are the only Peridot on Earth." Ronaldo stated. "Besides, even if there are a whole bunch of Peridots, each one has a different personality, right? Kind of like how there are many humans, but each one has their own personality."

"Do not compare humans to gems. They are not the same thing. The sooner you realize that the better off you will be." Peridot said walking away from Ronaldo.

"H-Hey! Wait up!" he yelped and quickly jogged up to the green gem.

* * *

Hours passed until the two finally reached the dark cavern. Although the sun was beaming bright overhead, the rocky surface was covered in a dark shadow.

"Woah." Ronaldo said with shock as he took in the view of the cavern covered in large holes. He began to reach for his phone but was stopped by his gem companion.

"You saw none of this, Ronaldo. You will not take a single memory or a single photo from the Kindergarten, do you understand?" Peridot stated. Part of Ronaldo was surprised that a threat did not follow, but he nodded in agreement nonetheless. Peridot continued guiding Ronaldo through the treacherous landscape of the Kindergarten. The large abandoned drills caused Peridot to shiver at the reminder of what this was. Once activated, the Kindergarten would destroy all life on Earth. She knew that. That included Ronaldo and his family.

'I'm going to have to kill them?' Peridot thought. She quickly shook her head to get rid of the thought. 'Of course not. I'm not killing them, the Kindergarten is. None of it will be my fault. I'm just completing the mission.' Peridot reasoned. She looked back at Ronaldo who was still busy taking in the landscape around him when she noticed something was off.

"Why is that drill getting bigger?" Peridot asked aloud to herself. Her eyes widened in realization. "Look out!" Peridot shouted at Ronaldo. Ronaldo looked at Peridot with confusion before following her gaze behind him. Ronaldo turned and his pupils shrank when he saw the large drill collapsing down above him. He tried to run but found himself trapped in place with terror like a deer in the headlights.

"Ronaldo!" Peridot quickly shoved him out of the way and the two tumbled out of the way as the drill landed on the ground, shattering in the process, the goop from the drill leaking all over the ground. Peridot's fingers gripped onto Ronaldo's body as she looked at the destroyed drill with horror. "We almost died you fool!" she snapped at Ronaldo who's eyes were still wide with fear.

"That was amazing!" Ronaldo grinned with excitement before he looked down to see the gem with worried tears pricking her eyes. "I-I'm sorry." Ronaldo quickly corrected. He had never been so close to dying before. Even after he had experienced so many paranormal activities, he had never come this close to dying. Peridot grit her teeth in anger and got back to her feet.

"We need to keep moving." She said stoically. "Get up." Peridot walked back towards where they were heading, avoiding the shards of the drill.

'Why did I save him?' She thought cursing to herself. 'I could have just let him die and that would have been the end of it.' She kicked at the dirt angrily. 'No matter, once I contact Homeworld that will be the end of this.'

* * *

The two descended down into the controls of the control room of the Kindergarten. The room glowed bright green as the archaic center was brought to life once more.

"Woah." Ronaldo gasped as monitors and screens floated through the room. Peridot tapped on one of the screens of the Kindergarten hoping to get a signal to Homeworld. At the same time, she pulled up her own monitor to check the status of the Kindergarten, hoping to complete reactivation of the gem nursery and fulfil her original mission. Static filled the Kindergarten monitors as Peridot fumbled with the controls.

"I'm getting this done one way or another." Peridot said with determination. She heard Ronaldo's footsteps as he explored the rest of the room. "And I'm not letting another human get in the way."

Peridot pressed one of the buttons on the controls and the static cleared revealing a black screen.

"This is Peridot reporting from the Earth Kindergarten. I am requesting backup from Homeworld and a ship." Peridot said loud and clear.

"Ah, Peridot. I was thinking I would never hear from you again." A familiar voice said. The screen flickered to life as the image of Yellow Diamond lit up on the screen. Peridot saluted to Yellow Diamond and stood firmly.

"Yellow Diamond." She addressed her superior. "I have made contact with the Earth Kindergarten and I will have it reactivated momentarily. I only request a ship to return me to Homeworld once my mission is complete."

"What mission?" Yellow Diamond said as if she had no idea what Peridot was referring to.

"The mission to restart the Kindergarten, ma'am." Peridot reported.

"The Kindergarten? Jasper had told me that she found Rose Quartz and had her captured." Yellow Diamond glared at Peridot. "What are you doing in the Kindergarten without either of them?" Peridot gulped.

"Yellow Diamond, Jasper and the prisoner, Lapis Lazuli, have been defeated by Rose Quartz and her Crystal Gems. I managed to escape and reach the Kindergarten in hopes of requesting backup." Peridot stated. Yellow Diamond did not look statisfied and scowled.

"What? You had the nerve escape without your superior and the prisoner?" Yellow Diamond boomed. "Coward! Just like all you Peridots." Yellow Diamond growled. Peridot stood firm. She knew better than to say anything back.

"Hey! You can't just say that about Peridot!" Ronaldo hissed from behind. Peridot felt her stomach drop.

"Who is that?" Yellow Diamond screamed angrily.

"Ronaldo Fryman! And I think you need to stop being such a tyrant to Peridot!" He defended.

"Ronaldo! What are you-" Peridot tried to interject.

"Peridot has worked very hard to satisfy you and this is the thanks she receives? What is wrong with your society! I ought to-" Yellow Diamond slammed her heel on the ground.

"I have had enough of your foolishness, human!" Yellow Diamond screeched. "Peridot! How dare you bring a human into the Kindergarten! You will be heavily punished upon your return." Yellow Diamond threatened. Peridot winced and opened her mouth to speak but Yellow Diamond beat her to it.

"However, first, take care of this human." Yellow Diamond instructed. Peridot's eyes widened in shock.

"W-what?" Peridot couldn't help but stutter.

"You heard me! Get rid of that human _permanently._

_Kill him."_

* * *

_A/N: A cliffhanger again? Yes I am sorry (not really). Unfortunately, if may be some time until the next chapter..._

_UNTIL THEN, leave a review and see you all later!_


	12. Chapter 11

_A/N: Sorry for the long wait! I had a few other fanfictions I wanted to write before continuing _Cracked Landing, _b__ut I'm back now! _

_Forgive me, this chapter is a bit on the short side and I debated on combining this with Chapter 12, but I didn't think Chapter 12 was ready to be posted yet. _

_Enjoy Chapter 11 for now! _

* * *

"You heard me! Get rid of that human _permanently._

_Kill him."_

Peridot felt her face pale and she stumbled backwards away from her towering ruler. Kill? That was not something Peridot ever was assigned to do. That is why she traveled with Jasper, so she could do her own technical work and Jasper could deal with the pests that got too close, but Jasper wasn't here to protect her anymore.

"W-what do you mean, Yellow Diamond? I-I-" Peridot struggled with her words, fearing the powerful gem on the other side of the screen.

"Peridot! My orders are clear! Kill this human or you can forget returning to Homeworld with your gem intact!" Yellow Diamond hissed. Peridot shook in fear. Kill Ronaldo or never return to Homeworld? Peridot glanced over at Ronaldo who took a step back from her when their eyes met. She knew that face; it was the face of fear. She looked at Ronaldo and saw herself. She saw her reflection in his glasses staring back with horror and with fear of _dying_.

They were both the same.

They were both _scared_.

"Peridot!" Yellow Diamond's voice boomed with impatience. Peridot jumped and turned around to face her leader. "Hurry up and kill him! Kill him and get back to Homeworld to finish your duties!" Peridot's hand shook as she reached for the emergency gem destabilizer tucked neatly in her boot. She didn't know how well it worked on humans or if it worked at all, but it was all she had. Peridot's hand shook as she pointed the weapon at Ronaldo who looked at Peridot with horror.

"P-Peridot?" he shook, slowly backing away. Peridot felt tears prick her eyes. How could she wish for the same torture that was subjected to her back at home for Ronaldo? And after he had shown her so much kindness?

"Get on with it!" Yellow Diamond snapped. "Honestly! I know you Peridots are useless but getting sensitive over this one human? You truly are pathetic!"

_Clang._

Peridot dropped the weapon.

"What are you-" Yellow Diamond started.

"I'm done following your orders, Yellow Diamond." Peridot said stomping her foot down as she marched up to the screen. "I refuse to bring upon the same torture you have inflicted on me for the past one thousand years to the humans on this planet!" Peridot placed her hand above the yellow diamond emblem on her uniform before it promptly vanished. "I will no longer serve you."

"You little-" Peridot turned a few dials on the control panel and pulled up her own screen.

"Permanently ending all transmissions." Peridot said, hesitantly hovering her finger over her screen. This command would cut off all contact with Homeworld forever. Was Peridot really prepared to abandon her home?

"Peridot if you dare end this transmission you will never be able to come back!" Yellow Diamond threatened. Peridot looked up at the screen.

"I know."

Peridot pressed the button on her screen and static echoed through the room as the transmission ended. Yellow Diamond's face disappeared in the static and silence eventually settled in the room as the monitors shut down one last time. Ronaldo stood frozen behind Peridot completely in awe at what just occurred.

"Wow…" Ronaldo breathed, running his fingers through his hair. "That was crazy. You really weren't joking about that tyrant leader of yours." Ronaldo said chuckling slightly, trying to lighten up the heavy mood. Peridot stood at the controls, her hands still pressed up against the array of dials and buttons, hunched over and shaking. "Peridot, are you-?" Ronaldo cautiously placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder only to be slapped away angrily. Ronaldo fell backwards at the sudden action with a loud thud.

"This…This is your entire fault!" Peridot screamed. Tears streamed down her face. "You should have just stayed out of this!" Peridot felt her body tremble. "You should have just let me die in that forest!" Peridot sprinted out of the control room without another word. Ronaldo sat frozen in place.

"My entire fault?" Ronaldo winced at the words. Ronaldo looked up at all the foreign technology littering the room. Investigating paranormal activities in Beach City was all he did and for once he bit off more than he could chew. Finding an alien? Speaking against an intergalactic dictator? What was wrong with him? He got himself into this mess, and now he needed to fix it.

Ronaldo stood up, dusting his pants off before running after the lost gem.

* * *

_A/N: Leave a review for more! _


	13. Chapter 12

_A/N: Thought I'd work hard and try to get this chapter out quicker. Well, here it is! I also had a livewrite with this chapter and a bit of chapter 13 and azure-emerald was kind enough to join me! If you would like to join in as well next time feel free to PM me! I also post on my Tumblr whenever I have livewrites so feel free to check that as well! __I'm also having a bit of trouble capturing Peridot and Ronaldo's character after StevenBomb 2.0. because Peridot's behavior in Keeping it Together kind of threw me off a bit. _

_Without further ado, here is Chapter 12! _

* * *

"Peridot!" Ronaldo yelled, only to hear his own voice echo in the chasm. "Peridot?"

Ronaldo had been searching for the green gem for what seemed to be hours. It was going to get dark soon and Ronaldo was worried he would not find her before sundown. The area was completely silent except for the rocks which crunched under Ronaldo's shoes with every step.

"Peridot?" Ronaldo continued calling into the emptiness. He felt his heart sink and guilt flooded his chest. He didn't mean to cause so much trouble to the gem. He only acted upon what he felt was right. Ronaldo let out a frustrated groan.

"I always mess things up!" He said with frustration and angrily punched the cliff wall. Tiny pebbles fell from the sudden impact on the wall and Ronaldo winced feeling the rocks fall on his head. "Okay, I probably deserved that." He huffed and continued his search.

Another hour passed and Ronaldo was starting to lose hope, but he told himself he would not leave until he found the green gem. After everything that happened, he couldn't just leave her to fend for herself when she could barely take care of herself when they were living together. Ronaldo blushed at the thought. No, "living together" wasn't the correct term; it was more like "keeping each other company."

Another rock fell from above, hitting Ronaldo in the head and he almost lost his footing. He slightly cursed under his breath and his gaze traveled upward, looking for the source. His eyes widened when he saw the familiar triangle shaped hair just two hundred feet above him. Peridot sat on the wall of the cavern with her knees up to her chest. Although the wall was at a ninety degree angle, she easily stuck to the rocky side with the help of her tech.

"Peridot!" Ronaldo cried from bellow, hoping to catch her attention. Peridot shifted, hearing her name being called, but didn't bother to turn around to face Ronaldo.

"Leave." She stated firm, but her voice sounded as if she had spent the last hour crying. Ronaldo clenched his fists against the cavern wall.

"No. Peridot, please. I'm sorry." Ronaldo said, but Peridot did not move nor did he speak. Ronaldo's brows furrowed with determination and he tightly gripped the rocky cliff face, using the holes along the side to climb up. "Peridot, I'm sorry I caused this mess. I'm sorry for speaking against your leader, but all that stuff I said about you was true!" Ronaldo panted as he attempted to climb the cliff. He silently admitted to himself that he wasn't the most physically fit person out there. "Peridot, you're a hard worker and you shouldn't be working hard for someone who doesn't appreciate you. I didn't mean for you to get banished from your home, but from the way you were acting, it didn't seem like home." Peridot's squeezed her legs tighter. "Peridot, you are so much more than just a cog in their machine. You need to understand that, and if you don't, I do!" Ronaldo said, his voice growling louder. He reached his hand out. Peridot was only a few inches away from his fingertips. "Peridot, I lo-"

_Crack._

Ronaldo felt her heart drop when he felt the rock beneath his feet give out. His breath caught in his throat as he stumbled to gain foothold again, flailing his arm trying to grab onto something. Ronaldo shut his eyes in a panic as he fell, bracing himself for the painful impact.

"Ronaldo!" Peridot's panicked voice sounded in his ears followed by a loud whirring. Ronaldo slowly and nervously opened his eyes again when he saw with surprise Peridot holding onto him in a death grip with one arm over her head acting as a helicopter. His jaw dropped at the sight when she dropped him back safely on the ground, toppling down to her knees as well in exhaustion. "Ronaldo, you clod! You almost died! When are you going to get it through your thick organic skull that I'm not worth your life?" Peridot hissed with hot tears rolling down her cheeks. Ronaldo gently took Peridot's face in his hands and looked into her green eyes with a serious expression.

"When are you going to stop degrading yourself and understand that I won't let you get through this alone?" Ronaldo said in response. Peridot's eyes widened and she stared at Ronaldo with shock. He cared about her? Why would this human go through all this trouble just to make sure she was okay? He almost died and here he was worrying about her? Guilt filled her chest as she remembered her harsh words from before. Fresh tears rolled down her face and she wrapped her arms around Ronaldo's chest, hiding her face in his shirt not wanting to look him in the eyes. Ronaldo looked down in shock, surprised that the gem actually allowed herself to finally express her emotions. He lightly wrapped his arms around her, his cheek resting on top of her hair. A few content moments passed before Peridot finally spoke.

"Ronaldo…I…I'm sorry." Peridot whispered, her voice still quivering.

"Why are you sorry? I'm sorry for messing everything up." Ronaldo said honestly. Peridot shook her head.

"No. It's my fault for dragging you into this mess. I don't even know what Yellow Diamond plans to do now that I have betrayed her. She still needs the Earth Kindergarten, and she is not going to stop until she gets it." Peridot gulped clenching her fists against Ronaldo's shirt. "Ronaldo…thank you." Peridot said after some hesitation.

"For what?" Ronaldo couldn't help but ask with confusion.

"For being so kind to me. I have behaved poorly around you and I apologize. You showed me why Yellow Diamond was wrong. Earth is full of things we do not understand. Destroying it…I can't believe I was about to do that." Peridot shivered at the thought.

"It's okay. You didn't know." Ronaldo reasoned. Peridot couldn't help but laugh.

"Well, I have plenty of time to learn now that I can not go back home." Peridot said with a sigh.

"I'm sorry you had to leave your family behind and everything." Ronaldo assumed.

"I have no family. I had nothing to leave behind. I mean, sure Homeworld was my entire existence, but it was hardly _living_." Peridot scoffed.

"Oh. I see." Ronaldo looked over at the horizon and almost bolted up to his feet. "Is it that late already?" Ronaldo yelped earning a surprised yelp from Peridot who was still curled up against him.

"What do you mean?" She asked with panic, scrambling back onto her feet.

"I mean, it's almost dark and we really need to be heading back." Ronaldo said, calming the gem's worries.

"Oh. I see. Well, I suppose." Peridot said pulling up her screen to another map.

"Uh, maybe we should use my map this time?" He insisted, remembering the last time he relied on Peridot for directions.

"Your map? Please, human technology can't be better than gem tech." Peridot insisted.

"Well, prepare to be amazed!"

* * *

"How is it that your small cellular device cut our travel time in half?" Peridot yelped in surprise. They were already back in Beach City and were strolling down the shoreline. They had managed to make it just as the sun began to set .Ronaldo couldn't help but smirk.

"You shouldn't underestimate human tech Peri, especially when I have 4G!" Ronaldo said with pride.

"4G?" Peridot repeated with confusion.

"Oh well, you see-" Ronaldo began to explain when a loud roar interrupted him. The two jumped in shock, and before they could react, a purple puma had Peridot pinned down between its claws.

"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in!" the puma mewled with its chest held high in accomplishment, showing off the purple gem that was tucked in its fur.

* * *

_A/N: If you didn't get the hint, yes the puma is Amethyst. _

_Thanks for reading, and as always, Leave a review! _


	14. Chapter 13

_A/N: Thank you all for the amazing reviews! Just to let you know, I always ask for input so I know what I'm doing well/wrong! Thanks for continually supporting me and this fic! I do apologize for the long wait, I did start a series of Perinoldo drabbles and got a little side-tracked. _

_To answer some questions, the puma that attacked Peridot was in fact a puma and not her Purple Puma wrestling form. Also, in regards to Ronaldo saying "I lo-" in the last chapter, that is up to your imaginations! Maybe he was about to confess his love, maybe he wasn't! Who knows (well, I know)?_

_Just to let you know, I am planning a Livestream/Livewrite tonight 7/8/2015! Details are on my **profile** and Tumblr (link on profile) if you are interested!_

_Without further ado, enjoy Chapter 13!_

* * *

"A Crystal Gem?" Peridot quickly activated her fingers, placing one on the giant cat's exposed belly. An electric shock sent Amethyst flying off the green gem with a pained yowl and Peridot took the chance to run.

"Hey! Get back here!" Amethyst growled with her charred hair as she transformed back to her usual form.

"She's not going anywhere." Pearl's spear was pointed directly at Peridot and the technician froze in her place. Pearl stood blocking her front and Amethyst was close behind.

"Guys, wait!" Steven's voice huffed. Peridot could spot the boy rushing from behind, his pace much slower than the others.

"Steven! Stay out of this!" Peridot heard the fusion named Garnet say. Peridot turned and saw Garnet's gauntlets pointed at her as well. Peridot gulped. She was surrounded. There was only one way to escape and that was up. She was ready to make her aerial escape when another voice piped in.

"Leave her alone!" Ronaldo cried, running up to the gems.

"Ronaldo, don't-!" Peridot yelled with genuine concern. What was with him and picking fights with other gems? Did all humans do that?

"Amethyst, keep him out of this!" Garnet instructed.

"You got it, Garnet!" Amethyst turned and faced Ronaldo without another word with her fists ready.

"Don't hurt him!" Without thinking, Peridot tackled the purple gem to the ground only to get tossed back into the sand a few feet away from the wild haired gem.

"Amethyst!" Pearl rushed to the fallen gem's side with Garnet following close. Garnet was not happy.

"Peridot! You have overstayed your welcome! I think it is time for you to leave!" Garnet said angrily. She pulled her fist back, ready to send the technician into space with a punch and Peridot quickly shut her eyes in fear.

A loud echoing clang resonated through the area and Peridot's eyes shot back open in shock. A large familiar pink emblem held its place in front of Peridot and her eyes went straight to the owner of the shield.

"Steven! Get out of there!" Pearl angrily shouted with concern.

"Steven! Why are you defending her?" Amethyst asked with slight irritation. Garnet stayed silent. She slowly made over to the small boy and Steven lowered his shield, letting it dissipate in the air.

"Steven. Why did you protect Peridot?" Garnet asked cautiously. Steven held his ground in front of the fusion.

"She deserves a chance, Garnet. We can't hurt her without hearing what she has to say!" Steven reasoned.

"And you truly believe that?" Garnet asked. Steven nodded without wavering. "Even after she captured us and nearly sent us back as prisoners?" Steven hesitated but nodded nonetheless.

"She's a gem too and I want to hear _her_ side of the story!" Steven said confidently. Peridot looked at the boy with surprise. This child stood up against the larger gem to protect _her. _Even though she nearly destroyed his planet, Steven still wanted to give her a chance and was willing to _defend_ her against his caretakers' will. Garnet stared at the green gem with hard eyes.

"She's changed!" Ronaldo added, defending the gem in question. "I don't know what she did in the past, but she's not the same as she was before!" Garnet's expression didn't waver.

"We'll let her stay." Garnet stated simply before turning.

"What?" Pearl and Amethyst shouted in unison.

"Garnet! What do you mean-?" Pearl stammered in shock.

"If Steven thinks Peridot can change, we'll give her a chance." Garnet said before turning back to the cowering gem. "But if anything suspicious happens," Garnet summoned up her left gauntlet threating, "you can forget about ever going back to Homeworld in one piece." Peridot shivered at the words before standing back up, placing a hand on her chest where her yellow diamond emblem used to be.

"I am no longer affiliated with Yellow Diamond or Homeworld." Peridot stated. The other gems seemed shocked.

"Excuse me?" Pearl asked, wanting an explanation. Peridot gulped, not wanting to think about that fateful day.

"She saved my life!" Ronaldo burst in with enthusiasm. Peridot couldn't help but blush with embarrassment as Ronaldo recounted the events in the Kindergarten. The gems, on the other hand, did not seem as thrilled.

"You contacted Homeworld?" Garnet angrily asked Peridot. Peridot stiffened at the sudden outburst and shrank back.

"We're so dead! Yellow Diamond's going to send in an armada and we're all going to-!" Amethyst began freaking out, digging her hands in her messy hair.

"That possibility is very unlikely." Peridot reasoned. The Crystal Gems all looked at her in confusion. "I have destroyed all possible connections and contact with Homeworld. All records and documents have also been terminated. For all Yellow Diamond knows, I am the only gem on the Earth, and she is not likely to waste her armada on me." The gems looked at each other deep in thought.

"Garnet, please. If…if other gems are coming, we're going to need all the help we can get!" Steven said, hoping to convince the fusion. "Peridot knows technology we don't!" Garnet let out a sigh.

"Steven is right. We can not fight Homeworld alone. We need all the information we can get and Peridot seems to be the best source of information at the moment." Pearl and Amethyst stared at each other nervously but quickly dropped their weapons, agreeing with Garnet's decision.

"We have lots of questions to ask so, Peridot, you should stay here for tonight." Garnet explained, making her way back to the temple.

"Yeah! Slumber party!" Steven cheered, dragging Peridot along who followed with a confused expression.

"Slumber party?" she asked with confusion.

"Yeah! It's when friends get together and tell stories and eat snacks and sleep!" Steven chimed.

"Gems do not need to sleep." Peridot deadpanned. The mention of sleep reminded her of a certain human. "What about Ronaldo? Is he coming too?" Ronaldo ran after them.

"Yeah, what about me?" The gems all stared at the human with little interest.

"You? Just go back home?" Amethyst suggested. Garnet and Pearl seemed to nod with agreement.

"I can't just leave Peridot!" Ronaldo shouted without thinking.

"Why not?" Steven piped curiously. Ronaldo felt a slight blush creep on his cheeks when he realized what he had just said.

"Uh, b-because I still need to put stuff on my blog…" Ronaldo said trailing off.

"Garnet, can Ronaldo stay for the slumber party too?" Steven asked excitedly.

"Steven, I really don't think it's necessary to-"Pearl started.

"Actually, I am fine with Ronaldo staying for this 'party of slumber.'" Peridot added. Pearl looked at Garnet, hoping she would side with her.

"I don't see why he can't stay." Garnet said simply. Pearl groaned and crossed her arms in defeat.

"Why does he always end up at our house?" Pearl grumbled to herself remembering all the times he had shown up to their home uninvited.

"Oh man this is going to be so fun! It'll be like there _isn't _an evil gem coming to destroy the Earth!"

"_Steven!"_

* * *

Waves crashed along the shore. The soft sounds of ocean currents echoed through the surface, but beneath it, chains rattled violently.

"You can't hold onto me forever!"

"You shouldn't be concerned about _me!" _

"Unfuse before we lose ourselves!"

"Never!"

"Once Malachite takes over, we will be nothing but a killing machine!"

"Shut up!"

"What would Steven think of you when you kill off his family?"

"BE QUIET!"

The searing fusion's limbs stretched to its back, its clawed hand digging into the blue gem.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm going to end this, while I still know who I am."

* * *

_A/N: Thanks for reading! _


	15. Chapter 14

_A/N: Finally! An update! Do forgive me for taking so long with this chapter. My laptop's keyboard broke and I was out of town for two weeks so I was unable to write much since then. But I'm back for the rest of the summer! I'm going to try to finish up this story before the end of summer so I can have this wrapped up before school starts!_

_Thanks for all your support and patience! Enjoy Chapter 14!_

* * *

"Welcome to the Crystal Temple!" Steven proclaimed happily opening the screen door. Peridot nervously walked into the huge house and let herself survey the home. The house was much larger than the small room Ronaldo had atop the lighthouse. It was also much cleaner and far more furnished with chairs and sofas. She watched as Steven stumbled up a set of stairs onto his balcony, shuffling around in various cabinets.

"Make yourself at home guys!" Steven grinned as he ran back down the stairs, plopping down an armful of sheets and stuffed animals. "Oh man, this is going to be so fun!" Steven said making his way towards some cabinets besides the couch.

"Um, what do I do exactly?" Peridot asked Ronaldo. "Are there a set of rules set for these…slumber…parties?"

"Geez, relax, Peri_dork_! This is supposed to be a party!" Amethyst joked, grabbing a soda from the fridge.

"It's _Peridot, _you Amethyst!" Peridot angrily grumbled.

"Just Amethyst, _thanks_." Amethyst rolled her eyes, gulping down the fizzy juice.

"Get along, you two." Garnet stated and started laying down the blankets Steven had sloppily plopped on the floor.

"Ahem, so, Peridot and…um…Ronaldo. How exactly did the two of you meet?" Pearl asked with curiosity.

"Oh! Well, it's quite simple, really. I found Peridot unconscious in the forest with her gem cracked heavily." Ronaldo explained, taking a seat on the blanket covered floor. Peridot followed, making sure to keep close to the human. She still did not trust the Crystal Gems, but she knew they would never hurt a human.

"A cracked gem? But how is that possible? Your gem looks perfectly fine." Pearl inquired. Ronaldo and Peridot looked at each other uneasily before glancing at Steven who was also sweating nervously.

"Oh, hey! Let's play Twisty!" Steven interrupted, hoping to change the subject. He quickly laid down a tarp with colored dots printed on it and grabbed a spinner.

"Twisty?" Peridot looked at the half gem with confusion. "What is 'twisty'?" Steven plopped right next to Peridot with stars in his eyes.

"It's super fun! All you do is, spin the spinner and whatever color it lands on you have to put a body part on the colored circle!" Steven said pointing to the spinner and colored dots on the placemat.

"And what is the purpose of this?" Peridot asked blankly.

"There is no purpose! It's supposed to be _fun!"_ Amethyst said before Steven could answer.

"…fun?" Peridot did not quite grasp the concept at all.

"Here, I'll show you!" Steven enthusiastically grabbed Peridot's fingers and led her over to the side of the colored mat. He spun the wheel and it landed on red.

"See? It landed on red! So I'll put my right foot on red!" Steven said planting his foot on a red circle. "Your turn, Pearl!"

"W-what? Me?" Pearl said with slight surprise. "Well, I suppose." Pearl spun the wheel and it landed on blue. She placed a left foot on blue.

"All right! My turn!" Amethyst spun the wheel and it landed on blue again only this time for her left hand.

"Garnet's turn!" Steven smiled from his spot as the fusion took her spin. Ironically, it landed right between the red and blue colors. "Oh, well that's okay, Garnet! Just spin…again…." Before Steven could finish, Garnet put her hands on both a red and blue dot.

"Continue." Garnet insisted.

"Right! Peridot! Your turn!" Steven said gesturing to the spinner.

"Um…I see…" Peridot shyly brought a floating finger against the wheel, spinning it to have it land on green for her left foot. "Like this?" Peridot asked, placing her foot against the green dot.

"Perfect!" Steven grinned giving Peridot a thumbs up. "Your turn, Ronaldo!"

"Steven, I'm not sure you can fit so many people on this mat…" Pearl reasoned.

"What? We can't leave Ronaldo out!" Steven replied. "Come on, Ronaldo!"

"Right!" Ronaldo spun the wheel and received yellow for his right hand.

"So, Peridot, what were you doing at the Kindergarten before our confrontation?" Pearl asked with curiosity as Steven took his turn.

"Well, I simply wanted to contact Yellow Diamond for her to send a ship to rescue me. However, as Ronaldo has told you, my alliance with Homeworld has been compromised." Peridot explained as Pearl set her hand on a red circle.

"And you are positive that Yellow Diamond has no other way of reaching Earth?" Pearl coaxed.

"Indeed. I have destroyed all of Yellow Diamond's means of communication on Earth. Unless there is something unreadable by my scanners, Yellow Diamond will not be coming here anytime soon." Peridot explained, placing her hand on a yellow dot.

"You know, you never explained how exactly you fixed your cracked gem. Is it some new Homeworld technology that you can offer us?" Pearl asked. Peridot tensely looked at Steven who was currently tangled up with Amethyst.

"W-well, I might have…sort of…healed Peridot's gem?" Steven said timidly.

"You what?" Pearl screeched, losing her balance and toppling over Garnet with a loud thud. "Steven! How long have you known Peridot was staying with Ronaldo?"

"…a while?" Steven gulped. Ronaldo continued his turn while listening intently, placing a hand on a green circle.

"And why did you not tell us, Steven?" Garnet asked calmly.

"Well, I promised that I wouldn't tell any gem about her!" Steven argued, placing a foot on blue.

"Then why did they find me anyway?" Peridot asked.

"Well, technically that wasn't my fault!" Steven began. Peridot looked at the boy with confusion. "It was Stevonnie's fault!" Steven blamed.

"Who is Stevonnie?" Peridot asked, noticing her spin had landed on a yellow. She skillfully looped under Ronaldo's body to reach the yellow dot without a second thought. Ronaldo, on the other hand, had a blush stretched across his red cheeks as he tried to keep his shaky limbs from collapsing on top of the gem.

"Stevonnie is Connie and me! We're a fusion!" Steven smiled with pride.

"Another gem?" Peridot yelped in shock. How many gems were on this planet?

"No, no, no! Connie's a human!" Steven stated planting a foot on a red circle, making his way around Amethyst who had lost her balance and fell on her face with a plop.

"You can fuse with humans?" Peridot yelled and jumped up in shock. Unfortunately, she forgot Ronaldo was on top of her and bumped into the human, causing Ronaldo to lose his balance and collapse right on top of the green gem. Peridot let out a strained groan as she felt Ronaldo's weight on top of her.

"Ah! Sorry, Peridot!" Ronaldo bolted off of her and Amethyst snickered.

"Yay! I win!" Steven jumped happily.

"Steven can fuse with humans?" Peridot asked Pearl, wanting confirmation from another gem.

"Well, yes. We've met Stevonnie before." Pearl explained. Peridot looked at Garnet and she nodded as well.

"How…how is that even possible? I mean, a human and a gem fusion? How-" A tired yawn interrupted Peridot's rambling. The former Homeworld gem looked over at Steven who sleepily tried to answer Peridot's question.

"Well…it's probably…probably…because…I'm a half…gem…" Steven mumbled before falling backwards onto the covered floor.

"Looks like it's past his bedtime." Garnet stated and gently ran her fingers through Steven's hair as he slept. "Ronaldo, you look tired."

"W-What? No! Of course…I'm not…I am a night blogger! I just…need some coffee…" Ronaldo yawned. He had not received much decent sleep since Peridot's arrival. Coffee was the only thing keeping him going.

"We don't drink coffee." The fusion blankly added.

"…Is that…so…." Ronaldo flopped backwards into the sheets as well with a loud snore. Peridot couldn't help but smile at Ronaldo's sleeping face.

"Listen, Peridot." Garnet's voice returned and Peridot turned to face the three Crystal Gems, all looking at her sternly.

"Just because Steven trusts you doesn't mean _we_ do." Amethyst stated much firmer than Peridot expected.

"Steven is kind, even to gems like _you._ It would be in your best interest not to take his kindness for granted." Pearl said angrily.

"Just because Steven accepts you as a Crystal Gem doesn't mean we do. If you want to be a part of our group, you need to _earn _the privilege. Do I make myself clear?" Garnet asked sternly. Peridot gulped. The gems were all very intimidating, but still not as bad as Yellow Diamond. If she had to listen to their orders, so be it. She had no other place to go.

"Yes." Peridot gulped. The fusion was silent for a few seconds before nodding her head as well.

"Let's go, Crystal Gems." Garnet stated, making her way towards the temple door. Before long, the three were gone.

* * *

The ocean bubbled and waves churned against the shore.

"Let's pay your dear friend a visit, shall we, Lapis?" Jasper's sinister yellow eyes glowed as her clawed fingers wrapped around the blue gem in her palm. Cracks decorated its surface.

"I think it's time for Yellow Diamond to see where her dear comrade has been hiding all these years."

* * *

_A/N: Thanks for reading and leave a review!_


	16. Chapter 15

_A/N: Forgive me for the long wait! I do hope the wait was worth it! I will try to finish this fanfiction before summer ends, so expect more updates in the next two weeks! Thank you all for all your support!_

_Now, enjoy Cracked Landing chapter 15!_

* * *

Sunlight poured into the window of the Crystal Gem residence, shining onto the blanketed floor. Ronaldo winced at the sudden flood of light against his closed eyes and let out a tired groan. His hand lazily searched his side for a blanket but instead landed on a feminine figure tightly bundled up beside him. Ronaldo's sleepy eyes shot open as he noticed the green gem curled up on his side. Peridot lay in the crook of his arm, her eyes closed and mouth slightly agape as she slept soundly. Her fingers were tightly gripping his shirt, not showing any signs of letting go anytime soon. Ronaldo's eyes widened and his cheeks heated up.

"Uh, Peridot…" Ronaldo whispered with embarrassment. He shifted, moving away slightly in an attempt to wake the sleeping gem.

"Mhn…" Peridot groaned, and her brows furrowed with slight annoyance at the suddenly empty space. Her body shifted, and she scooted closer to the human, snuggling back up to her spot beside him. Ronaldo blushed.

"She sure is clingy." A voice chimed beside Ronaldo. The Fryman quickly turned to the source of the voice only to see Steven lying on his stomach, gazing at the two of them with starry eyes.

"S-Steven? How long have you been staring at us?" Ronaldo asked with embarrassment. The half-gem simply shrugged with a smile.

"Dunno." Steven simply said. "You guys are so cute!" Steven grinned with joy. Ronaldo, on the other hand, was completely flustered.

"W-What? I-it's not like that, Steven, and you know it!" Ronaldo argued. Steven opened his mouth to retort when the Temple door opened, revealing Garnet and Amethyst who stepped out, making their way over to the small group. Amethyst let out a lazy yawn and stretched her back.

"Mornin' Steven. I can't believe you're already up! Do you know how early it is?" Amethyst lazily slurred. She opened her mouth to continue but quickly fell quiet when her eyes landed on Peridot who was practically sleeping on top of Ronaldo. "Woah! Haha, what happened here last night?" Amethyst joked with a laugh. Ronaldo thought he was going to die of embarrassment.

"It's not what it looks like! We were just-!" Ronaldo began to stutter.

"Ronaldo, what exactly is your relationship with Peridot?" Garnet asked with interest.

"N-nothing! We're just friends! Honest-!" Ronaldo blabbered. How was Peridot still asleep through all of this? She really was a heavy sleeper! The temple door again opened with a hiss and Pearl stepped out with her back straight and eyes wide awake.

"Ah, Garnet! I'm glad you're up. I was just-" Pearl began but trailed off when she saw the sight before her. Ronaldo couldn't help but hide his face in his free hand with embarrassment.

"What on Earth is going on here?" Pearl squawked at the top of her lungs. Peridot's eyes shot open at the sudden loud wake-up call and sat up straight, flailing her arms.

"Peridot, reporting for duty!" Peridot stammered still half asleep. Her cheeks quickly heated up when she realized her embarrassing outburst and slapped her fingers over her mouth.

"Ahem." Garnet lightly cleared her throat, hoping to grab the lost gem's attention. Peridot quickly turned and was met with five intent gazes.

"Uh, I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Peridot chimed.

"No, we were all awake. Actually, we were waiting for you to wake up." Pearl chirped. Peridot's face darkened with a blush.

"Ah, I see." Peridot mumbled to herself. Her eyes went to the blonde haired human, and she cleared her throat.

"Good morning, Ronaldo." Peridot said politely. "I trust you had a restful night?" Ronaldo's cheeks became beet red at the mention of last night, and Amethyst burst out laughing. Peridot looked over at the giggling gem with utter confusion.

"What's so funny?" Peridot chimed with confusion. She glanced over at Ronaldo who was awkwardly rubbing his neck with a blush on his face.

"Hey Peridot! Let's go build sand castles!" Steven said with a grin. Peridot looked at the half-gem with more confusion.

"Sand castles? What is the purpose of building sand castles?" Peridot tilted her head curiously. Steven quickly jumped out of his makeshift bed and grabbed Peridot's fingers, leading her out the screen door.

"It's fun! Come on!" Steven chimed happily. Peridot looked back at the three Crystal Gems. They all smiled at Steven's playfulness, but Peridot knew that they still did not trust her. Perhaps now was a good time to prove to them that she could be trusted?

"Oh, I see. Well, I suppose I will join you in this human activity." Peridot mumbled as Steven led her out the door and down to the shoreline.

"H-hey! Wait up!" Ronaldo stammered, fumbling to strap on his shoes and followed behind them. Steven ran under the stairs of the Crystal Temple, grabbing two buckets and some shovels before plopping down besides Peridot who was waiting by the shore. He took out one of the shovels and handed it to Peridot along with a bucket.

"Alright! So first, you shovel some sand into your bucket!" Steven instructed. He began shoveling sand into his bucket and Peridot looked at him with confusion. Her fingers were still gripping the shovel, but she had no idea what to do.

"Here, let me help!" Ronaldo chimed, taking a seat besides Peridot. He put his hand over her fingers and guided them to the sand, helping her dig shovel after shovel of sand into the bucket.

"Yeah! Ronaldo's got the hang of it!" Steven smiled.

"Steven, I know how to build sand castles." Ronaldo said sarcastically rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, I know. I used to see you and Peedee make sandcastles a long time ago!" Steven said in remembrance.

"Is this some kind of a human ritual?" Peridot asked with curiosity.

"Nah, it's just something kids do for fun!" Ronaldo chuckled. He turned the bucket upside down and gently patted it before removing the bucket to reveal a strong sand tower. Peridot's eyes widened with fascination. Steven grinned with excitement and grabbed a stick and leaf, putting it on top of the tower.

"This will be our fort!" Steven proclaimed proudly. "Nothing will knock down the Crystal Gem Fort!" Steven pumped his fist in the air with excitement. Peridot smiled. Steven was such an energetic boy, and this world was such a fascinating place. Pizza, sleeping, sand castles. Peridot knew this was only a small portion of what this world had to offer.

Suddenly, Peridot felt something cold at her heels. Peridot stiffened and turned to look at the ground, water lapped at her ankles and was only getting higher with each wave that washed ashore.

"What the-?" Peridot's gaze traveled to the ocean, and her eyes quickly widened. A tall wave hovered over them ominously ready to crash down on top of the three. "Steven! Ronaldo!" Peridot yelped and quickly grabbed the two, tossing them aside. Steven fell back into the sand with a thud and Peridot followed, rolling between the two.

"Peridot! What's going on?" Steven yelped in shock as the wave crashed down on top of their sand castle. Of course, that was the least of their concerns.

"Peridot!" Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl burst out of the temple, jumping down in front of the group with their weapons ready. Peridot stiffened with fear.

"Guys, wait! This wasn't Peridot's fault! We were just-!" Steven stood between the gems with determination when a familiar chuckle interrupted him.

Everyone's gazes traveled to the ocean where a recognizable figure emerged.

A very _large_, _white-haired_ figure.

"Well, well. If it isn't the Crystal Gems." Jasper spat, shaking off the salty ocean water. "It has been a while hasn't it?"

"Jasper!" Steven squeaked in shock. "W-where's Lapis?" He asked, realizing the blue ocean gem was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh, that pathetic excuse for a gem?" Jasper chuckled. Her clawed hand opened, revealing a familiar cracked, blue, teardrop shaped gem.

"Lapis!" Steven gasped with fear. Peridot's eyes widened in shock. Her body shook with fear.

"She put up a good fight, sure. Obviously, she was weak. After all, fusion is just a cheap tactic to make weak gems stronger." Jasper hissed. "She thought she could keep me trapped in a fusion. Wrong! She trapped herself, and now look where we are." Jasper grinned sinisterly and roughly dropped the gem to the ground, digging her heal in it.

"Don't hurt her!" Steven cried, wanting to charge in after her, but the gems held him back.

"Look at this shameless display!" Jasper laughed, her gaze traveled down to Peridot who was shaking besides Ronaldo. "Ah, Peridot. Thank you _so much_ for _abandoning_ me on that ship in your _pathetic_ escape pod." Jasper hissed with angry sarcasm. "I'm sure Yellow Diamond would be pleased to know that you abandoned your commander." Peridot stiffened at the mention of her leader's name. "No matter, get over here so we can get back to Homeworld." Jasper huffed. Peridot felt fear course through her veins.

"Peridot would never go back there! Leave us alone you-!" Ronaldo began when he suddenly felt Peridot shift beside him. Peridot stood up, her fingers pulled into tight fists, and she began to march over to Jasper. Jasper grinned while the others looked at her with wide eyes.

"You- I knew you couldn't be trusted!" Pearl hissed angrily.

"Traitor!" Amethyst accused. Peridot did not speak. She simply continued towards Jasper.

"Peridot…?" Ronaldo breathed in shock. Was this really happening?

Peridot stopped in front of Jasper, her expression completely changing.

"Jasper! It took you quite long to return. I have been stuck here with these pathetic humans and sad excuses for gems! I will prepare the ship for return to Homeworld, and I will let Yellow Diamond know immediately." Peridot stated firmly. Jasper smirked.

"Set a course for Homeworld, and this time, don't mess it up. I'll take care of these_ Crystal Gems."_

* * *

_A/N: Oops. Another cliffhanger? Yes indeed! Forgive me, but I love writing cliffhangers!_

_As always, leave me a review to let me know you liked this chapter!_


	17. Chapter 16

_A/N: Felt a bit generous and decided to upload the next chapter! So I do hope y'all enjoy it!_

* * *

"Peridot…?" Ronaldo's jaw dropped at Peridot's words. The green gem did not face them, and instead, she pulled up her holo-screen with a blank expression. Jasper cracked her fingers menacingly.

"I knew we couldn't trust her!" Pearl screeched angrily. She drew out her spear and held it tightly, her anger only rising. Amethyst's eyes were wide with betrayal. She drew out her whip, letting it crack with rage.

"We gave you our trust! How could you?" Amethyst hissed. Peridot did not change her expression.

"Peridot…Was…was all of that a _lie?"_ Ronaldo gripped his chest with hurt. His hurt slowly bubbled into fury. "All that stuff you told me, was that all a _lie? _Was that all a ploy to get me to _trust _you? To _protect _you? Were you just…_using_ me?" Ronaldo's heart dropped. Peridot's typing stopped, but she still did not face him. Jasper scoffed with annoyance.

"Enough talk, human! I've had enough of this ridiculous planet!" Jasper growled angrily. She stepped away from Lapis's damaged gem and towards the Crystal Gems. "It's time I take Rose back to Yellow Diamond." Jasper smirked, summoning her helmet. She pulled out a gem destabilizer, and it sizzled with light energy. Steven shrank under Jasper's towering frame. Her eyes seemed more wild and crazed than the last time they had faced each other. The other gems had their weapons ready, but even they felt the looming presence of Jasper over them. The mention of the Diamond leader only furthered their worry. "Come on, Rose. We can do this the easy way or the hard way." Jasper hissed.

"His name is Steven, you clod!"

Everyone's attention snapped to the sandy shore where Peridot stood. Peridot's fingers were curled protectively around Lapis's cracked gem and her holo-panel disappeared. Peridot's eyes burned with determination.

"What do you think you're doing, Peridot? Put that pathetic excuse for a gem down! Actually, do me a favor and just shatter it already!" Jasper growled. Peridot did not move.

"Jasper, you are on Earth, and the Earth will not kneel to you or Yellow Diamond!" Peridot stated with focus. "I am a Crystal Gem, and I will protect this planet and _all _its inhabitants!"

"What? You little traitor! Yellow Diamond will shatter you for this! Just you wait and-!" Jasper began sprinting towards Peridot.

"Steven! Catch!" Peridot yelped, suddenly aware of the charging warrior. Peridot tossed the cracked gem to Steven, and he gently caught it in his hands, clutching it tightly.

"Peridot!" Steven yelped with concern as Jasper charged head-on to Peridot. Of course, Peridot had already anticipated Jasper's attack. Peridot quickly ducked, sliding between Jasper's legs and making a break for it when suddenly a clawed hand dug into her foot. Peridot winced as she felt her leg crack under pressure and fell face down into the sand as Jasper pulled her to the ground.

"You traitor!" Jasper hissed over and over again. "Traitor!" Peridot felt her face pale as she quickly fumbled with her plasma gun. Her fingers shifted to form the makeshift weapon and quickly blasted Jasper's face. Of course, Peridot had not considered the consequence of her action. Jasper was blown backwards by the force of the plasma gun, but her hand remained clawed onto Peridot's foot, causing Peridot's leg to become forcefully yanked off her body with a loud _crack_.

"Ahh!" Peridot let out a pained scream at the sudden loss of her appendage and struggled to get back on her knees in a futile attempt to crawl away.

"Peridot!" Ronaldo quickly was on his feet, ready to aid the wounded gem.

"Stay back!" Peridot hissed forcefully. Ronaldo stopped in his tracks and so did the Crystal Gems behind him. "I don't need your help!" Peridot commanded. Steven felt his heart drop when Jasper rose onto her feet, marching back over to the small technician. Jasper's fist curled against Peridot's uniform and the gem warrior pulled her up forcefully. Peridot winced as she felt Jasper's tight grip on her.

"Pathetic! Whose side are you even on? You're a traitor to Homeworld, and yet you decline the help of these _Crystal Gems._" Jasper spat with disgust. "You Peridots really are disposable! Useless! You lost Peridot!" Jasper insulted. Ronaldo was burning with rage. How dare she speak to Peridot in that way!

"M-maybe we are useless, and p-perhaps we are _disposable_, but I find that to be t-the _best_ trick up my sleeve." Peridot smirked with a pained expression, and Jasper's eyes widened in realization. "End of the line for both you _and _me, Jasper." Jasper tried to stop the technician, but Peridot's fingers had already made their way to her arms, pressing an array of codes. Jasper's pupils shrank.

"_Self destruct sequence activated."_

"Wait! Peridot!" Ronaldo's eyes widened in shock when the robotic voice chimed. The other Crystal Gems seemed frozen in place. "Peri-!"

A loud explosion echoed through the sandy shore. Grains of sand flew in all directions and Ronaldo was knocked backwards at the sudden force of the explosion. He fell onto his back with a painful thud, and the other Crystal Gems toppled besides him. Ronaldo coughed as the dust began to clear, and he quickly stumbled to his feet, rushing towards the center of the explosion.

"No, no, no! Peridot!" Ronaldo rushed into the dust cloud, ignoring the outbursts from the Crystal Gems. "Peridot!" Ronaldo cried into the emptiness with no success. He searched all around, but there was no sign of her form. That's when he saw it: a bright green glint from the sand beside the shore. Ronaldo fell to his knees in shock. "P-Peri?" His hands shook as he gently cupped the green triangular gem on the sand. Tears formed in the corner of his eyes. She was…gone?

A gentle hand touched his shoulder, and Ronaldo turned with tears streaming down his face. The gems stood still in shock but with soft expressions. Steven's hand was on the Fryman's shoulder.

"Ronaldo, Peridot will be fine." Steven said with an understanding smile. Ronaldo's eyes widened.

"B-but sh-she exploded!" Ronaldo said in an outburst. His hands still gripped tightly onto the green gem.

"Yeah, but her gem is fine! Look!" Steven said, gesturing to the green gem. Ronaldo looked at the gem's smooth surface in fascination and worry. "As long as her gem is fine, she'll come back. You just need to be patient, and take care of her gem until she comes back." Steven explained.

"Wait! What about that other gem?" Ronaldo chimed, realizing that Peridot was not the only one who disappeared. Steven brought up his free hand to reveal a pink bubble with a familiar orange gem.

"Jasper will remain bubbled until we can decide what to do with her." Garnet explained. "She withstood lots of damage from the explosion and from the forced fusion. She probably will not be coming back anytime soon."

Ronaldo looked down at the green gem with concern and sadness. Garnet placed her hand on Ronaldo's shoulder.

"Ronaldo, Peridot will return. In the meantime, please watch over her gem. We trust you to protect her until she returns." Garnet said gently. Ronaldo's expression changed to one of determination. He quickly wiped his tears away and looked at Garnet with a new purpose.

"I promise. I will protect her."

* * *

_A/N: Get it? She had one last trick up her _sleeve?_ I'm so funny. I even thought it'd be funny to poof Peri! *laughs* Traumatizing Ronaldo. So fun._


	18. Chapter 17

_A/N: I had **so** much trouble with this chapter..._

_Why? _

_Because it's the **last.**_

_That's right! Cracked Landing is coming to an end. Thank you all so much for your support and understanding through thick and thin. I wanted to end this fanfic before I went on hiatus for school, and so here it is! It's always hard to end a long fanfic especially after hours of work and revising. Thank you all for being a part of this, and I hope you continue to follow my writings! _

_Please enjoy the **final chapter of **_**Cracked Landing!**

* * *

The sunlight rose against the horizon, pouring into the small beach house that sat at the shoreline of Beach City. Steven slept in his loft peacefully until the light hit his eyes.

"Mgh…" Steven groaned, turning to his side, hoping the light would vanish. Unfortunately for him, it only crept further into his small loft. "Mmm…" Steven let out a frustrated sigh and turned onto his back, tossing his covers away. He rubbed the sleep away from his eyes and stretched against the mattress. Steven glanced over to the nightstand where a familiar blue gem lay. It's now smooth surface glimmered in the sunlight. Steven smiled happily. After the battle, he successfully healed the crack in Lapis's gem, but the ocean gem still had yet to emerge from the safety of her gem.

"Good morning, Lapis!" Steven smiled and gently pat the gem which lay snug in some towels. The half gem yawned and lazily got out of bed, dragging his feet down the steps. His eyes trailed over to the kitchen, and Steven's eyes widened in surprise. The Fryman sat at the stool by the kitchen, his back hunched over, and his was breathing shallow with tiredness. Steven cautiously made his way over to the sleep deprived teen and tapped on his shoulder.

"Ah!" Ronaldo jumped with a loud yelp. He quickly turned in his chair, and his expression relaxed, realizing it was just Steven. "Oh, Steven. I, uh, didn't hear you coming down the stairs." Ronaldo slurred with exhaustion. Steven glanced over Ronaldo's shoulder and saw Peridot's gem laying in a bed of soft blankets. Steven recognized some of the sheets as Ronaldo's own tee shirts.

"How's Peridot?" Steven asked, although, he already knew the answer. Ronaldo's face fell with sadness and he dropped his head on the table with a huff.

"Still in her gem." Ronaldo sighed, tears pricking his eyes. He didn't notice it until now, but he really missed the green gem. He missed having the gem around his lighthouse, learning human things and sharing her odd gem tech with him. He missed her so much he decided to watch over her gem 24/7 at the Crystal Temple since the Crystal Gems thought it would be a better idea for Peridot to regenerate at the temple to ensure she was really okay.

"I'm sorry, Ronaldo. Pearl took two whole weeks to regenerate! Maybe Peridot will do the same!" Steven stated playfully, hoping to lift the paranormal investigator's spirits. Of course, it did the opposite.

"Two weeks?" Ronaldo exclaimed with shock. His hands went to Peridot's gem, protectively cradling it in his huge palms. "W-will Peridot take that long?" Ronaldo felt tears threaten to fall. "It's only been three days, and I already can't stand her being away!" Ronaldo cried.

"Uh, Ronaldo, when was the last time you slept?" Steven asked with slight nervousness. The door of the Crystal Temple glowed with a hum, signaling the other gems' arrival. Ronaldo yawned, not even noticing the three gems enter the room.

"I…don't know…uh…a few days ago?" Ronaldo yawned loudly, his head drooping slightly. He felt exhaustion loom in his head.

"Ronaldo! You need to sleep!" Steven scolded, tugging at Ronaldo's dangling arm. "Come on! You can use the couch! It's not that bad!" Steven stated, trying to pull the Fryman out of his stool. Unfortunately for Steven, Ronaldo was much bigger, and much heavier, than himself. Ronaldo didn't budge. His eyes remained glued to Peridot's gem.

'What if she never comes back? She blew up! There's no way she could be alive after that! What is she doing in there? I never got to say goodbye…!' Ronaldo's thoughts kept the human wide awake, staring intently at the green gem when suddenly a tug at his collar snapped him out of his thoughts. Garnet held Ronaldo up and out of his seat.

"Ronaldo, I know you are concerned for Peridot. However, you are human and must rest. We will take care of it from here." Garnet stated firmly. Ronaldo's eyes widened, and he squirmed in Garnet's grip.

"W-what? No! I have to watch over her gem! I made a promise! H-hey! Let me go you Crystal Gem!" Ronaldo kept thrashing with no progress. "What if you contain her? I can't let her gem out of my sight!" Unfortunately, Garnet was tougher than him and much better rested than himself.

"Ronaldo, you must rest. It will do Peridot no good if you just mope around all day." Garnet gently said. Ronaldo, of course, didn't listen.

"No! Let me go!" Ronaldo grumbled his struggling becoming weaker as he felt more fatigued. "Peridot!" Ronaldo yelped unconsciously.

Light filtered into the room. Ronaldo's eyes turned to the source of the bright light. A light green glow engulfed the room from Peridot's gem. Ronaldo gasped and his jaw dropped. The green gem floated free from its blanket cocoon and hovered into the air until a bright silhouette outlined the gem. The white glowing form shifted multiple times until it stilled onto a single form. The light filtered away with an electrifying pop, revealing Peridot's new physical form. The technician fell onto her feet with a loud thud, slightly shaking the small house with her heavy tech gear. Ronaldo's eyes were wide with amazement. Peridot's form hadn't really changed much, but everyone's eyes were glued to her new attire. Peridot still had her large arm guards with detachable fingers and heavy boots, but her uniform was now pattered with a large star colored in various shades of green, similar to Garnet's design. Peridot blinked her eyes open, slightly surprised to see everyone's observant eyes on her.

"Uh, hello everyone…" Peridot awkwardly waved. Nobody moved. Peridot shifted awkwardly where she was standing and followed everyone's gazes to her new form. Peridot jumped back slightly in shock at the design on her chest and quickly brought her hands up in defense. "Uh, I didn't mean to put that star on my outfit! I'm sorry! I just figured, since all of you had that…! I can remove it-" Peridot fumbled with her form when another voice broke the awkward atmosphere.

"It's perfect." Garnet stated with a smile. Peridot stopped and looked up at the leader with confusion.

"W-what?" Peridot asked with her eyebrows raised. Pearl and Amethyst seemed equally surprised.

"It's perfect." Garnet repeated, walking over to give Peridot an approving pat on the shoulder. Peridot's eyes were wide with joy.

"T-thank you, Garnet!" Peridot cheered internally. "I-"

"Peridot!" Ronaldo screamed with relief and wrapped the green gem in a huge bear hug. Peridot let out a surprised yelp at the tight squeeze. "Peridot, oh my gosh, I thought you were dead! I thought you were never coming back! I thought I lost you! Peridot!" Ronaldo cried. Days' worth of tears and emotions poured out of the human, and Ronaldo sobbed into Peridot's chest. Peridot, not quite knowing how to respond, awkwardly wrapped her arms around his huge shoulders.

"Ronaldo, I'm fine really! I just exploded, is all." Peridot explained, brushing off the incident as if it was no big deal. Ronaldo firmly held Peridot's shoulders and looked into her eyes with seriousness.

"You didn't just 'explode!' I thought I really lost you back there!" Ronaldo wailed. "Why do you even have a self-destruct button? Do all gems have those?" Ronaldo panicked.

"Well, no. It's really only Peridots that have self-destruct features. After all, we are disposable gems and worthless when it comes to combat."

"Stop saying that! You're worth more than that Peridot! Stop sacrificing yourself! You might not feel like you're worth anything, but you're worth _everything _to me." Ronaldo wept. His arms shook as he held onto Peridot's body; as if afraid he was going to lose her if he didn't hold on.

"Ronaldo…" Peridot's voice trailed off. She didn't know what to say. What value did this human see in her? How could anyone care so much for a disposable gem like her? Peridot felt tears prick her eyes when she saw the tired bags under Ronaldo's eyes. Did she cause those? Was he up all night waiting for her to come back? She made him worry about her, and yet here she was talking about how worthless she was! Peridot tightly held onto the human, returning the warm hug.

"I'm…sorry…" Peridot held onto Ronaldo, not quite knowing how to respond. Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl all stood awkwardly observing. Steven, on the other hand, seemed completely thrilled to see the interaction and watched with starry eyes. Pearl cleared her throat, hoping to ease the awkward atmosphere.

"Well! This day has been quite…eventful. However, I'm sure we have missions to attend to, and Peridot should be heading back to…wherever she is supposed to be." Pearl guessed. Peridot looked at Pearl with slight irritation. Clearly Pearl was as confused with Peridot's alignment as the green gem was herself.

"Peridot is welcome to stay here if she chooses." Garnet explained blandly.

"But Garnet-!" Pearl gasped.

"Actually," Peridot interrupted Pearl. "If you don't mind, I'd much rather stay with Ronaldo at the lighthouse. Most of my gem tech is already there, and I have been quite acquainted with it already. However, I am more than happy to help you with missions if you require my assistance." Peridot explained. Pearl and Amethyst both seemed shocked at Peridot's decision, but Garnet simply nodded.

"Woah, seriously?" Ronaldo gasped. "That's great! I can't wait to show you all the crazy paranormal stuff I found! Oh, we can even go on paranormal investigations together! This is so exciting! We'll be an unstoppable team with your gem technology and my intuitive mind! Our team name shall be, Deny Everything!" Ronaldo rambled, making his way out the door with excited, determined footsteps. Peridot chuckled.

"Why, 'Deny Everything?' That makes no sense." Peridot rolled her eyes, and the two made their way out the Crystal Temple back to Ronaldo's, or rather, _their_ lighthouse.

"It has a nice ring to it!" Ronaldo laughed. Their laughter and voices became softer as they walked further away. The four Crystal Gems remained by the window and watched with curious eyes as the two walked down the shoreline.

"Hm." Garnet adjusted her shades slightly with raised eyebrows.

"What is it, Garnet?" Pearl quickly chimed worried that the fusion saw something with her future vision.

"Nothing." Garnet said fiddling with the edge of her shades. Maybe it was just the light, but she could have sworn she saw a tiny curly haired girl following the two down the beach.

Perhaps it was just her imagination.

Or perhaps it wasn't.

* * *

_A/N: If you are following my other fanfics, you know that there were hints to my other two perinaldo fics! _

_Also, if you're wondering about a continuation, while there is currently no _direct_ continuation to Cracked Landing, my other fic, Small Mishap, takes place years after Cracked Landing. _

_Also, depending on how school goes, I may write an epilogue to reveal what happens to Lapis. _

_Thank you all so much for reading and supporting this fic! I hope to see all you lovely readers in my other fanfiction as well! _

_Goodbye for now!_


End file.
